Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders, a former budget director and still a finance specialist, left the 300 slides of line items in the city’s $537 million budget back at the office for today’s State of the City presentation at the Wellmark YMCA.

Thank you, Scott.

Sanders joined Mayor Frank Cownie in outlining the city’s achievements, prospects for the future and challenges – some of them apparently buried deep in the history of the city and state – for business leaders and members of the Des Moines Downtown Chamber, Des Moines East and South Chamber and Des Moines West Side Chamber.

Those challenges, Cownie said, frequently come from a few blocks east of city hall at the state Capitol. The city’s budget must be certified by March 15, providing plenty of time for what might be considered a sneak attack of legislation before the Iowa General Assembly adjourns a month or so later.

He didn’t mention the financial blessing that lawmakers bestowed on Des Moines and other communities when it approved the Reinvestment District program that provided an opening for construction of a convention center hotel adjacent to the Iowa Events Center. 

However, the hotel was among the development gems Sanders outlined in his presentation. In fact, there have been so many development deals and project completions that Sanders, nearing the end of his first year on the job, didn’t have time to complete all of those that were listed in a slide presentation of his speech.

Two key points of the presentation were the city’s ongoing efforts to redraft the city’s forward looking comprehensive plan and to have it completed with the city codes and policies in place to implement the plan. In addition, the city’s strategic plan is being updated for the first time since 2006.

Both documents should represent a realization that with revenues tight — the general fund budget for fiscal 2016 will grow by a mere 1.4 percent — the city “can’t grow with every whim.”

In addition, the city will continue to improve the levee systems along the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, work to revitalize neighborhoods, proceed with its corridor planning process and streetscape improvement projects, and seek legislative initiatives to reduce reliance on property tax revenue.

Cownie frequently played Sanders’ foil, interrupting his presentation to elaborate specific points, particularly during a brief outline of the upcoming budget. Cownie stepped in front of Sanders to point out that the City Council voted to preserve the current tax levy, the fourth consecutive year it has done so.

“Keep up the good work,” Cownie said as he stepped away from the podium.

“Thanks a lot, Frank,” Sanders said.