The Jefferson City Council met Tuesday night in regular session.

During open forum, a resident and business owner addressed the Council about the proposed tax increase for the budget. The individual was against raising 3.5% of taxes and worried about not using money to help the city departments with equipment requests and he had concerns about the city owning downtown buildings. Mayor Matt Gordon said the 3.5% is for the tax asking and is not raising property taxes for the $3.1 million budget. Gordon also said the money that is being used on the downtown buildings is from tax increment financing (TIF) and not from the city’s general fund. 

The main discussion was on combining the Jefferson Area Chamber and Jefferson Matters: Main Street into one organization with a director and a tourism/office coordinator. It was mentioned that the positions would be city employees and the cost estimate with salaries and benefits would total $140,000. Several funding sources, such as hotel/motel tax and an investment drive were discussed. Both organizations felt it was the right move to bring better value to the City and eliminate duplicate services. No formal action was taken by the Council pending further review of the expenses. 

The Council then approved the quarterly funding request from Greene County Development Corporation as presented, the first pay estimate of $107,609 to Leroy and Sons for the first phase of relocating a county road for the airport runway extension project. The Federal Aviation Administration is fully funding the entire project. Additionally, the Council approved three amendments to separate contracts with Region XII Council of Governments for the Community Development Block Grant Set-Aside Grant Program to account for new federal government language and they re-set the bid receiving date for a roof replacement project at 100 East State Street to March 5th. The Council also reviewed a public works quarterly report. 

Finally, the Council held a budget workshop. Following an overview of the budget, the Council decided on a 3.1-percent increase in the general fund tax levy. Due to the Iowa Legislature requiring any city that requests to go over the maximum tax levy limit of two-percent, the City must hold a public hearing for the additional increase. That public hearing is set for March 10th. The overall proposed tax levy is $15.10 per $1,000 of valuation.