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 by the ADAPT DSM plan, saying the plan calls for a city staff lead to coordinate implementation. Dozens of speakers from Creative Visions and program participants testified that VIP work — described by staff as a targeted intervention model that responds within 48–72 hours of a shooting and that has diverted people from violence — must be sustained to avoid reversing gains described by program staff and board members.

Council discussion after public comment produced three explicit directions recorded in the meeting: - The council instructed the city manager to return with options to re-establish a sustainability function. Council members requested a range of options and discussed a funding target discussed previously by the council (up to about $120,000 annually as one upper option). The manager was asked to present a menu of staffing or contracted approaches and associated costs. - The council authorized the city manager to pursue matching funds and other partners for Creative Visions’ current grant applications so the program can continue past its existing federal-supported period (staff testified there are approximately seven months of current funding remaining). Any actual supplemental city commitments would require future council approval if needed as part of a formal grant match. - The council asked city staff to continue engagement with regional partners, the Polk County Housing Trust and nonprofit providers on an ongoing homelessness strategic plan; staff said the plan’s final recommendations would be released May 6 and could require additional city investment over time.

During debate, Council Member comments stressed the difficulty of the decisions and the need for greater public transparency on precise line-item cuts and consultancy or travel spending. Several council members said they wanted clearer, published options from staff on how a smaller- or mid-sized sustainability office could operate, and at least one council member insisted previous direction had asked staff to present options up to $120,000.

The formal vote to adopt the budget passed unanimously, 7-0. The motion as recorded at the meeting did not list a formal mover or seconder in the public record excerpt but was entered and carried by roll call.

The manager and finance director told the council they would continue to seek philanthropic and grant partners and would return with the sustainability options and any required grant-match requests for council approval. Several speakers from Creative Visions said they were already pursuing additional grants and private support and asked the council to preserve at least a partial municipal commitment so those matches could be obtained.

The council also discussed — separately from the budget adoption — homelessness coordination with neighboring jurisdictions and the role of central Iowa providers; staff said multiple jurisdictions and philanthropic partners were being engaged in a metropolitan strategy.

Looking ahead, council members said they expect staff to present the sustainability options and any recommended matching requests for VIP as soon as they are identified, and to provide more granular budget-line disclosures for future cycles so elected officials and the public can evaluate proposed cuts against alternative choices.