Des Moines council adopts budget with cuts; asks manager for sustainability options and to pursue matching funds for violence-intervention grant

The Des Moines City Council voted 7-0 April 7 to adopt the city budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, while approving several directions to city staff to pursue targeted, time-limited remedies for programs reduced in the cuts.

Council members said the adopted budget reflects difficult tradeoffs after state-level limits on municipal revenues and the expiration of one-time federal funds. The council approved the budget after extended public comment on the loss of city-funded positions in the sustainability office and on proposed reductions to local support for the Creative Visions Violence Intervention Program (VIP).

The council’s adoption matters because it sets spending levels that affect public-safety initiatives, climate work and human-services programming at a time when one-time pandemic funds used for some services have ended. Council members and dozens of residents urged preserving core services or finding partners and grants to keep programs running.

Public commenters including neighborhood leaders and students urged restoration of the sustainability office created…