Additional pay for members of the short-handed Fort Dodge Police Department and an emergency medical service agreement are on the agenda for the City Council tonight.

The council will also continue working on the proposed budget for 2026-2027.

The council meeting will begin at 5 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 819 First Ave. S.

The proposed spending plans for Dodger Area Rapid Transit bus service and various administrative functions will be reviewed.

The council’s regular business meeting will begin at 6 p.m.

During that session, the council will consider a plan to award extra pay to police officers working in the department, which is regularly understaffed. At full strength, the department has 40 officers. But over the last four years, it has rarely had that many.

An agreement with the city and Public Professional and Maintenance Employees Local 2003, which is the police officers’ union, would create a critical staffing premium between $500 and $1,000.

The agreement would also enable an officer to get up to an additional $2,000 for living in the city limits.

Officers could also be paid for up to four unused floating holidays.

Additional pay would also be provided for serving as a field training officer or being bilingual.

The council will also consider an agreement under which the Fire Department would receive about $1.2 million annually from the new countywide property tax for emergency medical service.

That money will be used to hire additional firefighter/paramedics and to build a second firehouse on the city’s west side.

Also during tonight’s meeting, the council will award a contract for extensive work on a bridge in the 3300 block of Fifth Avenue South.