The city manager, Peter Zamansky, in January released a proposal to lay out reductions in spending to shrink the deficit this fiscal year. However, policymakers are looking for larger cuts and structural changes to address the city’s long increasing debt burden.

Image via Axios

One of the largest services under scrutiny is Des Moines’ DART bus system. Reimagine Dart is the city’s response to the decision by the communities of Grimes and Pleasant Hills to no longer contribute to funding the municipal bus service. Des Moines, Polk County, and eight suburban communities (Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Clive, Johnston, Urbandale, Windsor Heights, and West Des Moines) have agreed to retain membership in the transit authority and work together over the next 18 months to redesign the system. However, like many services that aren’t turning a profit at the moment, it will likely be reduced to a shell of its current self as it is forced to decide between speed and coverage.

State lawmakers met May 15 without changing tax law. City leaders say lawmakers acknowledge regional public transit’s unique needs, but have prioritized slowing local budget growth over those needs.

(left: current dart coverage, right: after proposed cuts; image via DART)

An earnings tax on those who live outside of Des Moines but commute to the city for work has been advocated by some to address the transit system’s debts, but such a tax remains illegal under Iowa law. Some argue that earnings taxes create negative market distortions and could exacerbate the current budget crisis further. Policymakers fear an earnings tax would decrease population growth and encourage businesses and workers to move and operate outside the city limits to avoid the tax, further lowering the city’s tax base.

Despite rising deficits and debt, in 2023 Republicans passed the homestead tax credit that gave exemption to senior homeowners and limited property tax rate below 3%. As of January 2025, Gov. Reynolds has fully replaced Iowa’s tired progressive income tax system with a flat rate that is estimated to cost the state $600 million in revenue this year. The city has since relied on support from the American Rescue Plan to make up some of that lost revenue; however, in 2025 that support has also ended.

Faced with a need to stay financially solvent and provide essential services, but unable to enact adequate tax reforms, the city has found its solution is rising property values.

In 2018 the city hired consulting firm CBZ to review the city’s development initiatives, which recommended that investing in curb appeal in wealthier neighborhoods and gentrifying the urban downtowns would increase the Des Moines housing market’s competitiveness and raise home prices and tax revenues without high upfront costs associated with providing public services to the poor.

The out-of-state consultant also recommended the city pause the low-income housing tax credit, or LIHTC, and focus on programs like Invest DSM and ION. 

The city is taking public feedback on CBZ’s recommendations until June 15th and plans to vote on the program’s continuation June 30th.

Programs like Invest DSM and Habitat for Humanity have increasingly been directed toward “revitalization” projects that promise both homeowners and city officials that these projects will increase property values and generate tax revenue for the city. ReflectDSM, the city’s historic preservation plan, announced in 2023 these goals:

• Stabilize and improve property values and the equity held by the citizens in their property
• Protect and enhance the city’s attraction to tourists and visitors
• Strengthen the economy of the city

Increasingly, government programs and partnered NGOs have begun to operate not as public services, but with tax revenue and market desirability as a primary goal.

Image via CBZ

This has taken the form of the city increasingly targeting its resources toward specifically middle- and upper-class neighborhoods that have been identified for their market and taxable potential, with less attention given to lower-income communities that, from the city’s perspective, possess a lower return on investment and high costs to service.

At the same time, available land for development is increasingly scarce in the urban center near jobs and opportunities. NIMBYs have used zoning laws and litigation to make it difficult and expensive to construct affordable housing in those areas. 

One resident in the vicinity of a recent housing development for the homeless in East Des Moines told KCCI, “We don’t want it. We have children; this is a little neighborhood, and we don’t want that kind of stuff in our neighborhood. We have kids.” However, there is evidence that neighborhoods with similar homeless housing projects saw reports of crime drop over 30%.

In 2024, another development proposed by Hope Ministries received majority support from the city council and unanimous approval from the city planning commission to construct affordable group homes between two lots of undeveloped woodlands, but the project was slowed down and ultimately abandoned because of challenges from a handful of homeowners.

For the government and developers, this means affordable housing projects have become easier in areas with less friction and more available land, and therefore have been pushed to the suburbs and periphery of the city. Along with the city’s ordinances this year cracking down on the homeless and its increased police budget, the poor are being priced out and intentionally pushed further away from urban opportunities and resources, in order to attract residents with more desirable income brackets. Des Moines is forced to compete with its own suburbs to generate housing solutions similar to those seen in Ankeny or Waukee.

The post Des Moines’ plan to solve its budget crisis: gentrification appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Looking back, I’ve enjoyed learning about the manufacturing industry and sharing new insights with you. After today, a holistic image of GE’s digital presence should emerge.  But, before we move on to our final topic, I’d like to quickly highlight two huge lessons that came up over the last eight weeks:

1. Knowledge of market drivers often leads to potential customer segments.
2. The demographics found within a key segment can inform content strategy for online B2C engagement efforts.

Today, we’ll continue to consider how General Electric establishes its brand on Twitter. However, our attention will shift toward the arena of business-to-business (B2B) marketing.

Marketing agencies play a pivotal role in enhancing a company’s presence in the B2B landscape, particularly through targeted strategies that resonate with other businesses. These agencies often leverage tools such as SEO to improve visibility and drive traffic to their clients’ websites.

For instance, partnering with a specialized agency like https://www.boldseo.com.au/seo-melbourne/ can significantly boost a company’s online presence by optimizing its content for search engines and aligning it with the interests of its business audience.

By focusing on specific keywords and crafting compelling narratives, marketing agencies can help B2B companies effectively communicate their value propositions, ultimately leading to stronger connections and increased conversion rates.

To maintain continuity with my last TMC article, we’ll stick with examples from September. At the same time, I’m going to shake things up by having us close read one tweet this week rather than take a cursory glance at three.

This strategy will allow us to dissect the way GE actually executes its B2B outreach.

Let’s dig in!

Our GE9X jet engine, the largest on the planet, is entering the final stage of FAA testing. https://t.co/n4IiDeksAZ pic.twitter.com/5CCxXNLhM8

— GE Vernova (@GEVernova) September 1, 2017

Right off the bat: What’s the caption? (Our GE9X jet engine, the largest on the planet, is entering the final stage of FAA testing.)

This piece of information primes viewers for everything else they’re about to see. It’s the foundation upon which all subsequent messaging must arise from. As such, it often reveals who a company is trying to reach with their content.

All right, but what catches our eye about it?

For those of us who will probably never need a jet engine, we might still click the video to see the “largest on the planet.” The central importance of this phrase is conveyed through its positioning at the actual middle of the caption. While this giant detail could appeal to average people, the surrounding context probably doesn’t.

By writing that the GE9X is “entering the final stage of FAA testing,” General Electric instead signals to potential buyers that its product is close to market. That interpretation is highlighted by the inclusion of ‘FAA’ in the caption. This stands out because:

• Not many people know that FAA = Federal Aviation Administration.
• The few that do know the acronym are far more likely to regularly be involved with planes.
• Consequently, they might actually need to purchase a new jet or jet engine at some point.

From here, we’ll need to consider why the size of the engine would be important to this group. Some relevant clues should arise when we look at our next area of interest…

How is material from the caption reinforced by subsequent content?

We find size directly mentioned at three different points during the attached video:

• Right at the start of the clip (“Here’s what it takes to test the world’s largest jet engine.”)
• Again from 0:27-0:30 (“The GE9X is the largest jet engine ever built.”)
• A final time from 0:35-0:39 (“The engine is nearly as large in diameter as an entire Boeing 737.”)
  

Taken in context, the broader messaging within the sixty-eight-second clip seems designed to represent GE9X as an extremely reliable piece of equipment. We find this communicated in several ways through the display of its:

• Eco-friendliness at 0:40-0:44 (“less noise…& fewer emissions than its predecessors,”).
• Incorporated materials from 0:45-0:53 (“Super ceramics + 3D printed devices…which weigh less than metal, [but] generate more power with less fuel,” ).
• GE Aviation ‘Boot camp’ from 0:08-0:25 (“Our engines are bombarded with ice, dust, debris for hundreds of hours…& simulate over 3,000 landings and takeoffs,” ).

Taken together, the overarching emphasis on size seems to be playing into a simplistic “bigger is better” understanding of durability. By playing up the engine’s formidable size, the company positions its product as built to last. Nonetheless, GE makes sure to include other details as to why its new product is built to be functionally and environmentally sustainable. The last thing General Electric would want is for the GE9X to be the Titanic of jet engines.

The post The Media Court: GE’s Execution of a B2B Tweet appeared first on KRUI Radio.