Tax-supported Iowa City group closes meetings to public

IOWA CITY – A taxpayer-funded organization created by the Iowa City Council will close its meetings to the public.

The board governing the new downtown Iowa City self-supported municipal improvement district, or SSMID, said because it is a nonprofit organization, it is not subject Iowa's open meetings law.

“The majority of the board wanted to be able to just have some time … in private to do our work and not be concerned about how it sounds as we communicate with each other,” said Karen Kubby, board president and owner of downtown store Beadology Iowa.

The City Council approved the SSMID in December after being petitioned by downtown property owners. It creates a special tax district covering downtown and the Northside Marketplace.

Commercial property owners in the district must pay an extra tax levy starting in July estimated to bring in $280,000 a year, Kubby said. The University of Iowa will contribute another $100,000 annually. The money will be used to hire a business development manager and perform beautification projects.

Support for the SSMID was not universal, with fewer than 50 percent of property owners in the district signing the petition. Opponents said taxes were high enough already, the tax would be passed on to tenants and took issue with how the money was to be spent.

A 26-member board made up mostly of property and business owners oversees the SSMID.

Kubby said other people subject to the tax can attend meetings, but they must affirm their membership to the SSMID. People who do not opt-in would not be allowed in meetings even if they pay the extra tax, she said.

Joe Murphy, co-owner of TCB pool hall downtown, disagreed with that policy.

“The minute it becomes a tax collection, it should be open,” he said.

City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes, who does not represent the SSMID board, said the open-meetings question could go either way legally.

“I think if it was a city call, we'd probably advocate in favor of openness, because when it's a close call we typically do,” she said.

Several SSMID board members also sit on an advisory board to the City Council. Those meetings must be public, Dilkes said.

Another tie between the two is that the City Council must set the SSMID's tax levy and approve its budget each year.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office did not immediately answer whether a SSMID board could meet in closed session.

Kathleen Richardson, executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, said there's nothing stopping the SSMID from holding open meetings if it wants to.

The two SSMIDs in Cedar Rapids are city commissions that must follow Iowa's open meetings and records law. The mayor and City Council members appoint members.

In Iowa City, the SSMID is not a city commission and board members were picked by a five-member committee that included one city employee. Dilkes said Iowa City's structure is more like that found in Des Moines.

The Des Moines SSMID does not believe it is subject to the open meetings law, public relations director Amy Baker said. The organization has never had a request by an outsider to attend a meeting, but it would at least consider it if one was made, she said.

Kubby said the Iowa City SSMID will post its meeting minutes online and hold multiple public forums.

“So we do want to be accessible, but we also felt like we needed some private time to work through what we're communicating about and how we're communicating,” she said.