Public notices are required on a large number of matters and one basic rule that city officials can use is that any public hearing must be preceded by a public notice announcing the date, time and place of the hearing.  Some of the more common actions that necessitate a public notice include adopting a city budget or budget amendment (Sections 384.16 and 384.18 of the Code of Iowa), approving plans for public improvement projects (Section 26.12) and approving zoning ordinances (Section 414.4). Cities are also free to publish “any matter of public importance” as described in Section 618.14.