Iowa City set to approve new precinct, district boundaries

IOWA CITY – The City Council Tuesday night was unanimous in its support of new boundaries for precincts and council districts.

The new boundaries, required because of population shifts shown in the 2010 census, are only slightly different from the existing ones. There was little discussion among council members, except for some praise for staff who worked on the boundaries, as they approved the first of three readings necessary to make the changes.

The proposed map has 24 voting precincts instead of the current 25 because of how legislative district boundary lines are drawn and to keep populations in each precinct equal, according to staff.

The map also sets the boundaries for the council's three districts. Each district would have between 22,400 and 22,900 residents.

Iowa City's population increased 9 percent, to 67,862 people, between 2000 and 2010, according to the census.

The new boundaries would take effect in January.