Intergovernmental Agreements in the Des Moines Metro

Intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) are the legal instruments that allow the cities, counties, and special-purpose districts of the Des Moines metro to share services, split costs, and coordinate responsibilities across jurisdictional lines. The Des Moines metro area encompasses Polk County and portions of at least 6 surrounding counties, creating a fragmented governance landscape where no single municipality controls regional infrastructure. This page defines what IGAs are under Iowa law, explains the mechanics of how they are structured and executed, identifies the service domains where they appear most frequently, and describes the boundaries that determine when an IGA is the appropriate instrument versus other coordination mechanisms.

Definition and scope

Under Iowa Code Chapter 28E, public agencies in Iowa are authorized to enter into agreements with one another — and with agencies of other states or the federal government — to jointly exercise any power that each agency could exercise independently. Chapter 28E is the foundational statute governing intergovernmental cooperation in Iowa and distinguishes formal IGAs from looser administrative arrangements or memoranda of understanding (MOUs).

A Chapter 28E agreement must be filed with the Iowa Secretary of State and, if it creates a separate legal entity, that entity must also record its articles of incorporation or charter with the Secretary of State's office. This filing requirement gives IGAs legal standing and public accountability that an informal MOU does not carry. MOUs are used for coordination that does not involve the transfer of funds, personnel, or sovereign powers — IGAs are required when those elements are present.

The scope of an IGA can cover a single defined project, such as a joint road improvement, or an ongoing operational relationship, such as the joint dispatch of emergency services across two municipalities. The Des Moines metro's regional planning structure depends heavily on the Chapter 28E framework to give metropolitan planning organizations and councils of governments their legal standing to act on behalf of member jurisdictions.

How it works

The formation of a Chapter 28E IGA in the Des Moines metro follows a structured sequence:

1. Authorization by governing bodies — Each participating jurisdiction's elected council, board of supervisors, or commission must adopt a resolution authorizing entry into the agreement. No single administrator can bind a jurisdiction without that vote.
2. Drafting the agreement — The agreement must identify the parties, the powers being jointly exercised, the duration, the allocation of costs and revenues, the governing board or administrator if one is created, and the dispute resolution procedure.
3. Filing with the Iowa Secretary of State — Under Iowa Code § 28E.8, the agreement must be filed within 30 days of execution. If a separate legal entity is created — such as a joint water district — additional filings are required.
4. Implementation and oversight — If the IGA creates a joint board, that board typically meets on a schedule defined in the agreement and issues financial reports to each member jurisdiction. Member jurisdictions retain audit rights.
5. Renewal or termination — Most agreements include a defined term with provisions for renewal by mutual consent or withdrawal with advance written notice, commonly set at 90 to 180 days.

The financial mechanics vary by agreement type. Cost-sharing formulas are often based on population, assessed property valuation, service call volume, or a flat contribution schedule negotiated at the time of formation. The metro area's budget and finance structure reflects layers of these cost-sharing arrangements across utility, transportation, and public safety domains.

Common scenarios

Intergovernmental agreements in the Des Moines metro cluster around four primary service domains:

Water and wastewater — The Des Moines metro's water utility network and wastewater management system both rely on IGAs to extend service across municipal boundaries. A city with excess treatment capacity may sell service to an adjacent suburb under an agreement that specifies volumetric rates, infrastructure maintenance responsibilities, and emergency protocols.

Emergency services — Mutual aid agreements — a specific subtype of IGA — govern how fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and emergency medical services cross jurisdictional lines during major incidents. The emergency services framework in Polk County includes automatic aid agreements, where response is triggered by geography rather than a specific request, contrasted with mutual aid agreements, where a formal request must be made before assistance is dispatched. This automatic/mutual distinction is critical for liability and cost recovery purposes.

Public transit — The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) operates under a Chapter 28E agreement that defines each member jurisdiction's financial contribution and representation on the DART board. The metro public transit system would have no legal basis to collect funding from suburban municipalities without this foundational IGA structure.

Transportation infrastructure — Road projects that cross city or county lines, including joint maintenance agreements for shared arterials, are structured as IGAs. The Iowa Department of Transportation frequently appears as a party when state highways intersect with locally maintained corridors. The metro transportation network contains at least a dozen active multi-party agreements of this type.

Decision boundaries

Not every cross-jurisdictional coordination challenge calls for a Chapter 28E IGA. Three primary boundary questions determine the appropriate instrument:

IGA vs. MOU — If no public funds are transferred and no governmental powers are being jointly exercised, an MOU is sufficient and does not require Secretary of State filing. If money moves or authority is delegated, Chapter 28E applies. Treating an arrangement that requires IGA status as a mere MOU creates an unenforceable agreement and potential audit findings.

IGA vs. contract for services — A municipality can simply purchase a service from another municipality through a standard public contract, without invoking Chapter 28E, if the relationship is purely transactional and one party is acting as a vendor rather than a co-exerciser of governmental power. The distinction matters because contracts are governed by Iowa's competitive bidding framework, while IGAs are not subject to the same procurement requirements.

Single-entity IGA vs. multi-party joint board — When 2 jurisdictions cooperate on a defined project, a bilateral agreement with no new entity is typically sufficient. When 8 or more jurisdictions must coordinate ongoing operations — as with regional transit or a joint communications center — creating a separate legal entity with its own board, budget, and staff is more sustainable. Iowa Code Chapter 28E explicitly permits this structure, and it is the model used by the largest regional service authorities in the metro. Understanding which model fits a given situation is foundational to metro government structure as a whole.

The intergovernmental agreements resource page provides additional detail on active agreements within the metro's jurisdictional network, and the metro's main reference index organizes this material alongside the full range of civic, infrastructure, and governance topics covered for the region.

References

• Iowa Code Chapter 28E — Joint Exercise of Governmental Powers
• Iowa Secretary of State — Chapter 28E Filing Requirements
• Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART)
• Iowa Department of Transportation
• Metropolitan Planning Organization of Greater Des Moines (MPO)