The Fort Dodge City Council will meet again this Monday, with another round of budgeting ahead of the regular meeting. The budget workshop will begin at 5:00PM, and include Dart, city hall maintenance, and much of the administration of the City.
The Dart portion of the workshop indicates a $113,000 increase in property tax usage, attributed to less grant support. Revenues from grants are anticipated to be down over $500,000. The budget materials mention a small set of targeted operational reductions while minimizing rider impact.
The regular business portion of the council meeting will begin at 6:00PM. An agreement between Webster County and City of Fort Dodge will be presented for Emergency Medical (EMS) Essential Services funding. This agreement will unlock over $1.2 million dollars in new voter approved funding dedicated to EMS activities.
There will also be a request for approval of a side agreement between the City of Fort Dodge and the Fort Dodge Police Department represented employees. Highlights of the agreement include a critical staffing premium, field training officer pay, bilingual pay, residency pay, and holiday buyback. According to the memo from Jamie Anderson, the City’s Director of Human Resources, Fort Dodge continues to experience ongoing police department staffing pressures. The critical staffing premium would be paid for officers working while short handed, using funds already allocated to vacant positions.
A couple of agreements are also included for the Fort Dodge Fire Department. One new provision could allow new hires to Fort Dodge Fire to have up to 5 years of prior professional experience taken into consideration for vacation and sick leave accrual. This would potentially help with recruiting and retaining employees.
The Council will also take action on awarding a contract for bridge rehabilitation. The 5th Avenue South bridge over Gypsum Creek, near Menards, was recently identified as in need of some repairs. The Iowa Department of Transportation did the bid letting for this project, and recommends awarding it to Jasper Construction of Newton. There was a lower bidder, but it was rejected by IDOT due to ‘an overall award limit exceedance’.
The budget workshop and council meeting will be held at the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.
