Storm Lake Ties Fort Madison as Statewide PIE Best Performing Fifth City

Storm Lake earned statewide recognition in Iowa Auditor Rob Sand’s Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program for 2026, tying with Fort Madison as the Best Performing Largest Fifth City. The honor highlights years of municipal efforts to cut waste, strengthen services, and reduce costs for Buena Vista County residents.

City Manager Keri Navratil told the station the award recognizes years of work to cut waste and save taxpayer dollars. Officials cited a series of tangible projects that formed the basis for the nomination and selection. Among those efforts were a downtown LED lighting retrofit completed in late 2024, upgrades to city facilities, voluntary water-conservation measures, strengthened cybersecurity protocols, digitization of plans to reduce paper use, and cooperation with neighboring agencies through a 28E intergovernmental agreement.

The PIE program was created to reward government entities that find creative, measurable ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Winners receive formal recognition and a ceremonial pie delivery from the auditor, a symbolic nod to local civic pride and the program’s name. For Storm Lake, the award places municipal reforms alongside peer cities statewide and underlines a multi-year strategy of modernization and stewardship.

Energy and utility changes such as the LED retrofit have visible downtown benefits - brighter streets, lower electricity demand, and longer-lasting fixtures - while facility upgrades and digitized plans are aimed at cutting recurring maintenance and administrative costs. Water-conservation measures are voluntary but signal a local preference for prudent resource use, which can improve system resilience during dry spells. Strengthened cybersecurity protocols respond to growing threats against local governments and seek to protect resident data and municipal operations.

Intergovernmental cooperation through the 28E agreement expands that work beyond city limits by sharing services and costs with neighboring agencies. That collaboration is designed to produce savings and efficiency gains that individual jurisdictions might struggle to achieve alone, a practical step for rural and small-city governments balancing service expectations with tight budgets.

For Storm Lake residents, the PIE award is a recognition of concrete actions tied to taxpayer value rather than a ceremonial accolade alone. The city’s next steps will be tracking measurable savings, continuing targeted upgrades, and maintaining partnerships that multiply benefits across Buena Vista County. The ceremonial pie delivery will be a moment for public acknowledgement; the longer-term payoff will be whether the cost savings and service improvements identified by the city remain measurable and sustained.