The inflation that is pinching Fort Dodge residents is doing the same thing to their city government.

The Fort Dodge City Council began reviewing the proposed budget for 2025-2026 Monday, and learned that expenses are going up.

The budget city officials are working on is for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2025, and ends June 30, 2026. But state law requires cities to have their budgets done by the end of April. Therefore, the city staff has been working on the budget since the fall and the elected officials are now getting started on it.

Water budget

The proposed budget for the city’s water system is $13,103,229.

That is up from the current total of $12,525,075.

That budget is funded by monthly water bills. The council on Monday gave final approval to a two-phase rate hike that will raise those bills on Jan. 1, 2025, and Jan. 1, 2026.

There will be a net increase of $200,000 in the costs to run the John W. Pray Water Facility, according to Jeff Nemmers, the city finance director.

Additionally, the city will spend about $180,000 to replace the plastic membranes at the heart of the reverse osmosis system that reduces the hardness of the city’s water.

Sanitary sewer system

The proposed budget for the sanitary sewer system is $15,073,250.

The current budget is $14,495,254.

This budget is also funded by monthly bills, and the council gave final approval to a two-part rate increase Monday.

Again, a net increase of about $200,000 is expected in the cost of daily operation of the wastewater treatment plant, Nemmers said.

Road use tax

The road use tax is the city’s share of vehicle registration fees and gasoline tax revenue. Road use tax revenue is awarded on a per capita basis, with the city receiving $140.50 per person.

The proposed road use tax budget for 2025-2026 is $3,930,381.

The current budget is $3,733,946.

That money pays for road maintenance, street sweeping, snow removal and traffic signals.

Major outlays proposed include $200,000 for a street sweeper and $50,000 for a saw to cut concrete.

New controllers will be purchased for the traffic signals on First Avenue South at the intersections with Seventh, Eighth and Ninth streets.

Fort Dodge Fiber

The proposed budget for the city’s broadband utility is $5,167,158.

That is up from the current $4,874,544.

Three positions that are now considered unneeded will be eliminated. Two of those positions are for people who locate utilities prior to the installation of underground fiber optic cables. The other position is in sales and marketing.

Fort Dodge Fiber has 2,464 customers as of Monday.