MUSCATINE, Iowa – The Muscatine City Council completed their budget review process for the fiscal year 2025/2026 budget in March and will be voting to approve that budget during Thursday’s (April 17) City Council meeting. This is the first of two resolutions regarding the City budget that will be addressed during the meeting.
“We worked hard to limit the effects of the expected revenue shortfall while maintaining the services to our citizens,” Matt Mardesen, City Administrator, said. “While there may be some services that will need to be reduced due to financial constraints, our primary goals are to maintain basic City services to our residents, to maintain an adequate General Fund balance, and to continue to provide for infrastructure improvements in the City.”
As part of that review process, revised estimates of revenue and expenditures for the current budget (fiscal year 2024-2025) were reviewed and became Amendment #1 to the current budget. Approval of Amendment #1 is also on the City Council agenda for Thursday.
Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting, which begins at 6 p.m., in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of Muscatine City Hall. The meeting is open to all individuals, regardless of language spoken or physical ability. Anyone needing special accommodations should contact the City Clerk’s office at 563-264-1550.
The proposed budget for 2025-2026 is $86,364,799 including $48,399,749 in governmental fund expenditures and $37,965,050 in business-type/enterprise funds expenditures. Of that total, $23,046,500 is earmarked for capital projects in both governmental and business-type funds.
The budget review process began last October when each City department submitted their requests to the City Administrator and Finance Director. Those requests were whittled down through a series of meetings with each department until a proposed budget was ready to present to the City Council for their review. Revised revenue estimates for the next fiscal year resulted in City staff and the Council having to reduce the proposed budget by nearly a half-million dollars to be able to present a balanced budget in March.
The meeting will open with an Arbor Day Proclamation as Muscatine Mayor declares April 25 as Arbor Day in Muscatine. Melissa Baker, Park Maintenance Supervisor for the City of Muscatine, will accept the proclamation.
There will also be six public hearings conducted with resolutions to follow during the City Administrator’s portion of the agenda. The public hearings will be on the City of Muscatine Transit Annual Application for state and Federal Transit Funds, Muscatine Municipal Housing Agency’s 2025-2029 5-Year Plan, on the proposed Amendment #1 to the current city budget, on the proposed city budget for 2025-2026, the development agreement with Lumber Lofts, LLC, and the disposition of property within the Consolidated Muscatine Urban Renewal Area.
For detailed information on these and other agenda items, visit the City of Muscatine website, click on "AGENDA," and select the April 17 City Council Agenda link to view or download the agenda and attachments.
Those unable to attend in person can watch the meeting live on the City of Muscatine YouTube channel or Civic-TV (Muscatine Power & Water Cable Channel 2).