The portion of the property tax levy that Fort Dodge homeowners pay to support police and fire protection, plus a host of other government functions, will not increase in 2025-2026.

But to finish the general fund budget for that fiscal year, city leaders must close a $400,000 deficit.

City Manager David Fierke offered that size-up of the general fund budget Monday during a presentation to the City Council.

While the general fund is traditionally the hardest component of the budget to balance, Fierke said the state law limiting property tax collections is making things even tougher this year.

He said increased homestead tax exemptions for senior citizens and veterans take full effect in 2025-2026, reducing the taxable value of properties in the city by $12 million.

He said the levy rate for the general fund will remain at $8.54 per $1,000 of taxable value.

But that will bring in just $115,000 in new revenue for the general fund.

Meanwhile, payroll is projected to go up by $500,000.

The result, he said, is a $400,000 deficit.

“This is the 18th or 19th budget I’ve done here and in that time there is not a lot of places we haven’t already cut,” he told the council.

Eliminating eight full-time positions that are expected to be vacant by the time the new fiscal year starts on July 1 is one of the moves Fierke is considering to eliminate the deficit. He did not name those positions during Monday’s budget workshop. But he did say that all police and fire department operation positions would be funded.

He said he will be working over the next few weeks to find ways to avoid filling the eight positions.

Fort Dodge is not the only Iowa community experiencing these budget woes, according to Fierke.

“Everyone is seeing very low growth due to the exemptions,” he said. “Every city is seeing under 2 percent growth. Everybody is dealing with the same issue.”

On Monday evening, the council reviewed status quo budgets for the Police Department. Here is a summary of them:

Police Department

Proposed: $4,070,027

Current: $4,000,126

Emergency management

Proposed: $71,928

Current: $71,928

Animal control

Proposed: $98,750

Current: $98,750