Casotti Sworn in, Shares His Budget and Growth Goals

BOONE, Iowa—Building contractor Dave Casotti took the oath of office as mayor Wednesday morning, pledging to work with the city administrator, council members, county officials and others to contain tax and fee increases and continue the city’s steady economic growth as he succeeded predecessor Elijah Stines.

“I’ve told people that I’m a fiscally responsible, common sense person, so my goal in the next two years, and hopefully longer than that if all goes well, is to not raise taxes and to see what we can do about taxes and fees,” Casotti said earlier in the week. “I know there are probably
some fees that may go up, with utilities and different things that I don’t have a lot of control over it, but I’m going to do my best to keep them, especially taxes, from going
up.”

Casotti said he’s already been approached about a potential development project. “It’s good to see people interested in developing in and around Boone so that we can grow,” Casotti said. “Obviously, we want to grow. We’ve got to be careful how fast we grow. You don’t want to grow too fast, but we want a good pace of it. So, I’ll definitely be working on that.”

He continued, “I want to continue to build upon the growth that’s started. I’m a firm believer that you don’t want to grow too fast because that can cause some issues,” he said. “But steady growth is definitely a good thing.”

Casotti has been meeting with all the city’s department heads as well as the police and fire departments as he familiarizes himself with the annual budget and various municipal issues and priorities. “I’m looking forward to working with all the departments, the library staff, and Downtown Boone so, basically, everybody that’s involved with any part of the city whatsoever. And I’m looking forward to sitting down with the county supervisors and brainstorm with them a bit because they’ve got a lot to do with taxes and other things that affect the city,” he said.

Even before taking office, Casotti said, local residents have been expressing concerns and
suggestions to him. He’s looking forward to his first experience as an elected official. “My personal motto is that I don’t take myself too seriously, but I do take everything I do very seriously,” Casotti said. “It’s going to be challenging, but I’m going to make it as much fun and productive as I can make it.”