T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Councilors Mark Mitchell and Barry Kell, City Clerk Alicia Hunter and Mayor/Acting City Administrator Joel Greer look on during Monday night’s meeting.

The Marshalltown city council moved through its agenda relatively quickly during Monday night’s regular meeting and unanimously approved both the Fiscal Year 2025 budget and the FY 2024-2028 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

The council held three public hearings in quick succession — including another on an FY 2024 budget amendment — with no written or verbal public comments on any of them. Broken down by departments, the biggest beneficiaries of the CIP funding are Public Works ($54,315,025), the Street Improvement Program ($22,164,097), the Water Pollution Control Plant ($16,249,648), Parks and Recreation ($12,947,825) and the airport ($10,961,919). In all, nearly $137 million in expenditures are proposed over a five-year period.

City Finance Director Diana Steiner briefly stepped forward to ask councilors if they had any questions on the CIP, and there were none. Without any further council comments, a motion to approve the plan passed unanimously.

As for the budget amendment, Steiner explained that it was routine as things change from the adoption of the budget to the end of the fiscal year. The amendment does not increase property taxes, and Steiner reported that the city received lead abatement and Community Development Block Grants along with the implementation of an Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) program and a new salary schedule for non-union employees. The amendment was approved unanimously.

Finally, it was time to approve the FY2025 budget with a property tax rate of $16 per $1,000 of valuation, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The total amount of expenditures and transfers out for the upcoming fiscal year is $105,243,165, an increase from $97,312,016 in FY2024. The motion to approve the budget carried unanimously.

In other news, the council:

• Approved a resolution accepting and awarding the bid for an irrigation system at the city softball complex to Iowa Irrigation in the total amount of $91,729.

• Approved the sale of four vacant city-owned lots: 506 E. Boone St. to Rosalba Anguiano Luna for $5,000, 506 N. 2nd St. to Faith Assembly of God for $2,500, 101 E. Ferner St. to Jose M. Gonzalez Gazca for $3,500 and 702 Swayze St. to Re Invest 24 LLC for $500.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Recognized City Clerk Alicia Hunter for a total of 20 years of employment with the city.

• Recognized the Marshalltown Fire Department’s Fight for Air Climb team for its first place finish.

• Mayor Joel Greer read a proclamation for Arbor Day on April 26.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.