isu web 102224 728x90

WDM 2036

Futurist offers 20-year plan for suburb’s growth, quality of life. City manager and chamber president sit for a Q&A

/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/BR_web_311x311.jpeg

When you are running one of Des Moines’ hottest and liveliest suburbs, and enjoying top bond ratings and the commercial punch of Jordan Creek Town Center, it would be easy to just try to keep up with the site plans rolling in, said West Des Moines City Manager Tom Hadden.

Even that can be a challenge, which is why Hadden is hiring a deputy. 

But Hadden, who in a previous job turned the local landfill into something of a prairie reserve, likes to think big. So he brought in futurist Rebecca Ryan, who graduated from Drake University with a degree in economics, to help the city keep its momentum going through 2036.

We aren’t sure, but we’re thinking Hadden, now in his early 60s, might retire by that point, when the city’s population is expected to be more than 83,500. But the city will still be chugging along if he has his way.

Ryan, founder of Madison, Wis.-based Next Generation Consulting, hopes Hadden will see the suburb find new sources of cash, unified community leadership, a growing assortment of high-quality jobs including tech positions, and a quality of life that will keep the workforce coming. That will take a local option sales tax and/or special hotel/motel tax; a couple of new advisory committees to pull business, education and city leaders together; and some special efforts such as the creation of a revenue-producing citywide fiber-optic network, Ryan says.

West Des Moines split the $40,000 tab for Ryan’s work with the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. The project included a survey of business leaders and city department heads about key issues and challenges.

We talked with Hadden and chamber President and CEO Dave Schwartz to find out why they think the 20-year plan will make West Des Moines, now a city of  63,325, “the most vibrant suburban city in North America.” 

Q: How does this fit in with the city’s regular comprehensive plan?

Hadden: We’re getting out in front of our comp plan. We’re trying to take a really proactive approach to keep West Des Moines ready to go and address issues in the future. The scenarios we were dealing with (while developing the report) weren’t always pleasant. What if something happened at the mall (Jordan Creek)? There is a trend nationally that malls aren’t being rebuilt. Or what if we lost a major employer?

But it’s also what can we do to keep vibrant and be an even more vibrant city going forward.

We could sit here and say, “Things are really going pretty well, let’s just stay put.” But really we know that’s not a good strategy, because if that’s your attitude, usually you are going to be falling backwards. 

Schwartz: If you look out the window, I know I don’t see mountains or oceans out there. So if we are going to continue to attract young people, we better have a healthy, vibrant community.

I think that is what we are really looking at here: how to continue that growth. It would have been easiest to rest on our laurels, but that would be a mistake.

Hadden: Then 10 years from now, we’d look back and say, “What happened? Why are we struggling?”

Q: The plan calls for a city-only local option sales tax, a “pillow tax” at hotels and motels or both. Neither has been approved by the Legislature, which has been lukewarm to most proposals seen as Greater Des Moines initiatives. You are not at your property tax limit. Why the move to add different taxes?

Hadden: As we always say, we need that diversity of revenue streams so we aren’t so dependent on property tax. (Editor’s note: Bond rating agencies also have urged the city to diversify its income.)

Q: Both of those would take a public vote, right? 

Hadden: Yes. The vast majority of cities in Iowa have the local option tax, but we have to vote together as a county here and it hasn’t passed for whatever reason. We’re going to the Legislature and saying, “Let each city have that vote independently.” 

Q: You want West Des Moines to vote on its own for a city local option tax?

Hadden: Yes. And if we did it, other cities would follow suit. The rest of the state has the local sales tax, so that’s not a big burden to people who come here. And the regular sales taxes collected here go into the state general fund and support the rest of Iowa. We have to keep it really simple and we have to say, “Here is our story.” Half the money would be used for property tax relief.

Q: What about the hotel/motel tax? 

Hadden: The mayor has thought about a $1 a night “pillow tax” to help support public safety because we have a huge investment in police and fire. 

Q: What are your odds of winning lawmakers’ approval?

Hadden: So far, the Legislature’s view is all taxes are bad taxes. We look at it as there are investments you have to make in infrastructure and personnel to keep cities vibrant. So what are the ways to do it? 

People need to hear our story. We need to tell them that a vibrant city is not your enemy. We need vibrant agriculture. We need both. If we didn’t have an attraction that draws 24 million people a year (Jordan Creek Town Center), Mills Civic Parkway wouldn’t be six lanes. We are making investments that help the rest of the state.

Q: What do you see as the highlights of this report?

Schwartz: A big part of the plan is that we should have a public-private advisory group. I think that is critical to the future of any community, especially to West Des Moines with the type of thriving business community we are. To have some of the top business leaders working in lockstep with our city leaders makes complete sense to me. Then as we are rolling out initiatives, you have cheerleaders for those initiatives out in the community explaining why we are doing this as a city.

Hadden: We don’t want a situation where Wells Fargo (& Co.) or some other large corporations or businesses are going to make a big change and move and we go, “What happened?” We want to be in the know going forward, so if we need to make some adjustments to how we do business, we can. Sometimes we can’t cover all things for all people or organizations, but we certainly would like the opportunity. 

(Business leaders) see the world differently. Wells Fargo is dealing with people all over the world for employees. They know what they want. 

Schwartz: We have a pool of employee possibilities in this market. How can we be helpful? What do these employers really need? What are those four or five different areas that employers see as their needs for the future? Can we help address those with our education system? What can we do to help these employers find the quality of employees they need?

Hadden: That is a major issue. People might say they want more recreational opportunities. Younger people are looking for experiences rather than the place with the highest-paying job. They say they want to go where they would like to live, where there are things to do. What are those?

Schwartz: That’s a little different feeling than we had when we were young. You didn’t move to a place; you moved to a job. Now, people are moving into a place.

Q: West Des Moines is one of the fastest-growing cities in Iowa, and your city finances are solid. Jordan Creek Town 

Center has prompted miles of commercial development in that area. The westbound freeway is packed in the morning with commuters headed for West Des Moines office parks. How much should you tinker with the game plan?

Hadden: Sometimes we have our head down taking care of what is coming through the door. This gives us an opportunity to look at the horizon and go, “Let’s do more of that going forward so we are prepared.”

Q: How do you implement this plan?

Hadden: We can do a couple of things right away. One is the quality of life committee. The business (and education and city staffers) advisory group can be implemented. We could get our city wired at a high level of fiber. How do we make that happen? Do we do a public-private partnership? That is important for a city today, and I don’t see it going backwards.

We’ll continue to work with the Legislature to get approval of the local option and hotel/motel taxes. The local option tax alone could generate as much as $7 million a year, and half of it would go to property tax relief. The hotel/motel tax could be $500,000 a year.

Schwartz: With the new committees, suddenly, to pursue any of these initiatives, you have different groups of people with different perspectives who can help sell these concepts to the entire community.

oakridge web 100324 300x250