The process of planning the City of Ames’ $134 million budget for the next fiscal year began Tuesday night at a budget meeting where Ames residents gave suggestions on the forthcoming budget.

The meeting began with a brief presentation by Duane Pitcher, director of the Ames City Finance Department, who provided a breakdown of city expenses and income.

A majority of the city’s income comes from utility payments, such as electricity and water utilities.

The local option sales tax also covers a portion of city expenses, as do property taxes.

Nearly 33 percent of property taxes collected in Ames goes to the city, 44 percent to the school district and 20 percent to the county.

The remaining 2 percent goes to organizations such as the Des Moines Area Community College.

“Ames is very fortunate to have a very low tax burden per capita,” Pitcher said.

The per capita tax burden for city services in Ames is just more than $340 per year, making Ames the second lowest tax-burdened city in Iowa, second only to Dubuque.

Although it was designed to be an open forum for citizens to express concerns and give suggestions, few people attended the meeting.

Ames resident Joe Merchant made the only request for extra funds. He requested $250,000 for the Hunziker Sports Complex.

“The complex is a gateway to Ames and draws people from around Central Iowa,” Merchant said.

He said he would like to see some improvements to the roads within the complex, as well as to the parking lots.

“We would like to see a contribution from the city to make these improvements, as it is currently beyond the capacity of its current operators to make them,” Merchant said.

Ames City Manager Steve Schainker discussed the problems arising from higher energy costs and the impact it would have on the city budget.

“With all of the vehicles that the city operates, such as CyRide, the police vehicles and all the others, we’re anticipating some budget adjustments later on because of this,” Schainker said.

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco discussed expectations regarding money coming from the state and federal level, and the impact the recent hurricanes could have on federal funds from the transportation bill.

He said Ames received $4 million in federal funds to extend Grand Avenue but may not be able to count on that money.