Fort Dodge residents may see a portion of their city property tax levy go down as a new method of paying for 911 dispatching is implemented.

However, they may see their Webster County property tax levy go up.

City Manager David Fierke told the City Council Monday that the county will levy a tax to pay for 911 dispatching.

He said that as a result, the city will eliminate its levy that pays for its share of dispatching costs.

The city now levies a tax of 61 cents per $1,000 of taxable value to pay for emergency management. Most of the revenue from that levy goes to the 911 dispatching center.

The proposed city budget for 2022-2023 envisioned $602,901 for dispatching. City officials learned Monday of the county’s intentions. Specifics on how much the city’s levy may be reduced were not available Monday.

Information about the dispatching finances was discussed as the City Council reviewed the proposed budgets for the police and fire departments for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The proposed police budget is $3,881,777.

That’s up from the current budget of $3,614,192.

”For one of the largest departments, the budget is pretty plain Jane,” Fierke said.

The police budget maintains the current staffing of 40 officers.

It includes money for three new patrol vehicles, which have already been ordered, and 18 ballistic vests.

It also includes money for the city’s share of the $80,000 contract for animal control services awarded by the Webster County Board of Supervisors. The city pays 75 percent of that cost because most of the calls for animal control service are in the city limits.

Fire Department

The proposed budget for the Fire Department is $3,165,800.

That’s an increase from the current $2,807,970.

The budget envisions a new assistant fire chief position. The city hasn’t had an assistant fire chief since Lenny Sanders left about four years ago to become the fire science coordinator at Iowa Central Community College.

‘With the changes we have had in the last four years, it’s definitely needed to take our department to a higher level,” Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter said.

Ambulance

The ambulance service provided by the Fire Department, which is funded by fees rather than property taxes, has a separate budget.

That proposed budget is $1,532,500.

The budget includes money to hire two more emergency medical technicians and two more paramedics. Adding those people will enable the department to create a new emergency medical shift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily. The additional personnel will also reduce overtime significantly, according to Hergenreter.