City's community development department to focus on economic development functions

By PETER HUSSMANN

The Newton City Council approved a measure on Monday aimed at focusing the city's community development department at enhanced economic development outcomes just four days after its agreement to provide hotel/motel tax money to the Newton Development Corporation expired.

The council approved a resolution that will move an authorized administrative assistant/secretary position in the Public Works Department to the Community Development Department, but reducing the allowable hours of work to 25 hours a week.

At the same time, the council was informed that "as a result of the council's desire to transition to a more focused economic development function," the city's community development director will further direct his attention to those outcomes while the city planner will now become the "development planner with a more focused role in assisting the community development director.

The report notes that the city's building official will now have increased focus on coordinating and tracking nuisances and working with development codes and regulations.

The administrative assistant/secretary approved for the department will still be available to the Public Works Department on an as needed basis, the council was told.

On New Year's Eve, an agreement between the city and the Newton Development Corporation that allowed the NDC to collect up to $75,000 a year in hotel/motel taxes for its work on local economic development issues expired. The agreement was enacted as part of a 2005 vote by Newton residents to increase the hotel/motel tax rate.

The council had previously eliminated another hotel/motel tax funding stream to the NDC that generated approximately $30,000 a year for the private economic development corporation. In March 2009, the council voted to eliminate the NDC's 17 percent allocation from the first five cents of the seven cent tax.

Council members Jim Plumb and Jeremy Heaberlin voted against adding the part-time secretary position to the community development department. Staff will now begin the process of filling the vacant position.