Dale
Loudermilk

What are your priorities for the final 2027 city budget and property tax levy?

Their pick: Cut city spending to lower the levy.

Every year, the city determines how much the aggregated value the property in the community has gone up. They simply add to the budget based upon a percentage of that dollar value. No one stops and asks if the residents can afford the increase, they just assume that they are entitled to spend it. We should use Zero Based Budgeting. This requires staff start each year with a budget of zero dollars. That budget can be built from scratch only as each line item has been justified in context to the community’s current needs, not the city staff’s wants. As line items are created, they should then be evaluated analogously against the budgets of cities of similar size and geographic profile. This will require a lot of work and time on the part of both the staff as well as the council but will create a culture of accountability.

How should the city pay for the Public Safety Facility renovation and expansion?

Their pick: No, stop the project.

While I support law enforcement at every level, the need for this expansion should be evaluated against both a scaled response to our crime rate as well as our ability to pay for the expansion. We should halt the project, seek out the means to consolidate certain overlapping efforts between local and county enforcement; we should also look at how our recently renovated fire hall can be used to accomplish some of these requirements. In many cases, we are looking at paying for technology to mitigate risks that can be mitigated through subtle changes in process alone or in conjunction with cheaper options than currently on the table. We need an independent perspective on what is actually needed compared to what the local law enforcement community would like to have.

How should Belle Plaine approach new housing, business and industrial growth?

Their pick: Yes, to grow the tax base.

We should not build housing to have more housing. Our focus should be on generating the industry required to develop a sustainable economy where families who work in town can afford a new home. Currently, our median family income for those who actually work in town is about $99,000 (two wage earners). With a modest credits score, they can probably afford no more than a $150,000 home. The median home in Belle Plain is $350,000 to $355,000. To afford that payment, most people must commute elsewhere. As the arteries into the city (Hwy 169 & Hwy 212) become more congested, fewer people will be looking at the commuter model. If we are just building houses that no one can afford, how are we helping our community? We need the industry here that will make it possible for local jobs that will pay for the mortgage first.

Should Belle Plaine pursue a home rule charter, and why or why not?

Their pick: Yes, adopt a city charter.

If I could accomplish any one thing in the next two years, it would be the adoption of a home rule charter. Currently, Belle Plaine is statute city and constrained in many ways by that fact. We need the ability to hold recall elections when candidates do not live up to their promises, we need the means to hold an election when seats become otherwise vacant, and we need the ability to hold referendum on issues that the population holds near and dear but our political figures refuse to address. There are a number of other reasons, but in the end it really boils down to accountability. Right now, there are very few ways to hold our city staff and elected officials accountable other than wait for 2-4 years to vote someone out. In the meantime, they spend public money as though it is without consequence.

How should the city plan and pay for street and utility projects like the 2027 Improvement Project?

Their pick: No, postpone it.

Our debt is over 20 million dollars and by the time we see audit results for 2026, we may very well be close to $25 million. Having a $2.5 million streets project every year on top of all the other things that the city staff wants to spend money on is beyond irresponsible. We will have legitimate infrastructure requirements soon enough in the form of a wastewater treatment plant. We haven’t even addressed our need for a more stable power grid with a substation and 115kV services for industrial growth. We need to slow the rate at which we are borrowing money and we need to focus on paying off our extensive debt. This will be the only way we will ever get our taxes in line with neighboring cities.