Bondurant Mayor Recognized as 2021 Small Town America Civic Volunteer

Mayor Curt Sullivan was chosen as a Top 100 national winner of the 2021 Small Town America Civic Volunteer Award. He was selected from nearly 700 nominations in 49 states. Mayor Sullivan’s service to the Bondurant community is an inspiration to all.

Mayor Sullivan began his service to Bondurant on the Planning and Zoning Commission and later served on the City Council and then as Mayor. He successfully guided Bondurant through exponential growth without losing its personality and hometown feel. (The City doubled in size between 2000 and 2010 census and again between 2010 and 2020.) He also guided the City through three disasters (a flood and tornado in 2018 and a derecho in 2020), relying on his background in emergency management planning. The City’s response to each of these disasters and the actions taken to plan for and prevent future disasters have been celebrated throughout the community and professional circles.

Mayor Sullivan is thoughtful in facilitating council meetings, ensuring everyone has a chance to speak on various topics. He is also very strategic in collaborating with staff on long-term planning efforts, including two comprehensive plans, a corridor master plan, a regional commercial master plan (winning an American Planning Association Award), and a City Park master plan.

Mayor Sullivan represents Bondurant on numerous regional boards. The Mayor has been active in overseeing the City’s economic development efforts that have generated a 330% increase in the City’s commercial and industrial valuation over the past four years. Bondurant’s work has been effective in attracting two projects from Amazon and multiple other regional and national companies. The Mayor is an excellent spokesperson for the City and welcomed the Governor recently, who was in Bondurant to celebrate the City’s accomplishment of a Certified Site. (Certified Site is a program through the State where the property can become development-ready certified.)

Under the Mayor’s leadership, the City of Bondurant has grown significantly, both in valuation and population. Through these efforts, Bondurant has lowered the levy rate by more than $2.47 over the past three years. For the average property owner, this means that the homeowner is paying $123.20 LESS in property taxes than s/he was three years ago, even though the home value has increased more than 17%. As a result, Bondurant has gone from having one of the highest levy rates in the region to having a rate of $1.12344 less than the average metropolitan rate.

The City of Bondurant has also been highly successful in securing outside funding to leverage large capital projects. During the past four years of the Mayor’s term, Bondurant has secured more than $14 million in outside funding, using large grants to assist with the $51.7 million capital investment the City made during the same timeframe.

In short, the citizens and city organization have benefitted dramatically from Mayor Sullivan’s exceptional leadership.