City budget process follows steps to April adoption
By Shelia Tomkins
The City of Guttenberg is currently in the process of formulating its annual budget for the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2025 and ends June 30, 2026
The process follows steps and deadlines set out by the Iowa legislature and provides several opportunities for residents to weigh in on the budget.
Guttenberg City Manager Jamie Blume initiated work on next year's budget in November when she gathered budget requests from various city departments and entities.
A budget workshop was held in late November when the council reviewed funding requests from various departments in order to develop a plan.
In addition to determining expenses, a budget cannot be formulated until funding amounts and sources are identified, a step that first falls to county auditors, who are required to file taxable valuation figures by Jan. 1.
After reviewing valuations, the city manager then decides if another budget workshop is needed; if so, it will be held in late January or early February.
The city must submit its proposed tax information to the County Auditor by March 5 in order for the "truth in taxation" statements to be mailed by the Auditor to residents by March 20. These statements were first implemented last year.
Two council actions will take place around March 24; the first is a hearing on the property tax levy and the second to set a public hearing date to adopt the budget.
The final public hearing on the budget adoption will be held on April 14, and the City Manager must submit the budget using an online system to the County Auditor by April 30.
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The current budget calls for $38,029,036 in expenditures and $36,049,534 in revenues, with a tax levy rate of 15.7619 per $1,000 valuation.
The City Manager expects the new budget to feature expenditures that will be slightly more than last year. The goal is to provide departments with the resources needed to continue to provide services to residents.
Some major expenditures in the coming year will include the purchase of a new fire tanker, purchase of a new street sweeper, completing the electric updates to the South Flood pump building, continued updates to the electric infrastructure and updates to the storm water drainage system by the school.
Revenue from property taxes are predicted to rise slightly along with grant fund revenues. Other funding sources include electricity revenue, user fees and permits, and hotel/motel taxes. These are predicted to remain fairly steady or have slight increases.