Council asked to weigh new revenue options, from small sales‑tax to gambling tax increase

City staff presented several revenue options and sought council direction on whether to pursue ordinance changes before the budget hearings. One policy under review is Des Moines' 2012 ordinance that earmarks sales tax from construction projects above $15,000,000 for capital purposes; staff said adjusting that inflation‑adjusted threshold to about $23,000,000 or rescinding the set‑aside would free roughly $385,000 the budget currently counts on. "Since 2012, using, like, kind of the inflation modeling, 15,000,000 then is now worth 23,000,000," Caffrey said as she described the staff analysis and follow‑up work planned for October.

Staff also outlined three additional revenue options: a state‑authorized 0.01% Children and Family Services sales tax (restricted to childcare and parks-and‑rec programming, estimated $40–45k annually), an expansion of the square‑footage business tax to capture more occupancies (staff estimated ~$125k annually), and raising the gambling/card‑room tax from 9% to 11% (staff estimated roughly +$60k). Assistant City Attorney Matt Hutchins advised that other regional cities use square‑footage taxes in broader ways and that statutory timing constraints for sales‑tax changes mean ordinances would need prompt consideration to be effective Jan. 1. Councilmembers generally expressed interest in further analysis rather than immediate adoption; staff committed to return Oct. 1 with project‑level estimates and drafts for council consideration.