Waterloo finance meeting approves travel, pre-authorizations and budget amendments; staff says fiber project owes roughly $15 million

Members at a Waterloo finance meeting voted unanimously to approve a slate of employee travel requests, multiple pre-authorizations over $2,500 and several departmental budget amendments, and they voted to forward two large bill-payment batches to the full council.

The committee approved travel requests that included Detective Jurkerson to attend the American Association of Police Polygraphists seminar in Lake Tahoe, Nevada (May 4–10, 2025; not to exceed $2,516), Jacob Geller to attend a Shade Tree short course in Iowa (Feb. 19–20, 2025; not to exceed $310) and several other police, maintenance and administration trainings. The motion to approve the travel requests was made and seconded and carried on a voice vote.

The panel also approved a package of pre-authorizations to expend over $2,500. Notable items presented by staff included a $5,381 annual Digicast subscription for the airport, $37,965 to replace sliding entrance doors at the airport terminal, $13,967 for aviation general liability insurance plus a risk management fee, a $60,000 social-media marketing contract for airport service development (to be funded by a $48,000 Iowa DOT air service grant with a $12,000 local match), and a street-department repair and maintenance request not to exceed $70,000 (plus $5,000 shipping) for a 1999 chip spreader (SN 5707). The motion to approve the pre-authorizations carried on a voice vote.

Committee members approved a set of budget amendments across multiple departments. The police department’s agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service for the Northern District of Iowa Task Force included a project budget of $8,000 to cover overtime. Other amendments approved included a $95,000 increase to machinery and equipment replacement-parts expense for equipment purchases and repairs; a $62,000 amendment for fleet operations as submitted by Central Garage; a $243,000 increase for traffic operations tied to refunds and damage-claims revenue; a $51,000 package for sanitation operations; a $60,000 increase to Tri-County revenue and expense lines as submitted by the police department; and a $950 amendment for the library to cover contracted printer return shipping. The package of amendments was approved on a single motion and seconded.

The committee received and moved forward two bill-payment batches to the full council: $7,366,470.33 for Jan. 13 and $3,328,378.50 for Jan. 21. A member moved to "receive, file and forward to the full council," the motion was seconded and approved on voice vote.

During the bills discussion a committee member asked whether recurring large fiber-related payments were drawing down bond or ARPA funds and whether the city was close to exhausting that funding. The finance director responded with figures for the panel: "Currently the revenue bonds or the initial bond issuance of the $20,000,000 that we have, fiber has used $18,000,000 of those. And we have a little over a million left for city expenses in relation to the build out," the finance director said. The director added the city had issued $5,500,000 in sewer revenue bonds for fiber and that "they owe us roughly $15,000,000 right now just on that alone," and said ARPA spending had been substantial: "the total ARPA that the city received is a little over $30,000,000 ... we spent 15 out of 22, I believe," the finance director said. Those figures were presented verbally during the discussion and were not changed by a formal motion.

No formal amendments to the fiber financing plan or new financing actions were adopted at the meeting. After closing routine business and hearing no further questions, members moved to adjourn and the meeting ended.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve agenda and minutes of Jan. 6, 2025: approved (voice vote). - Motion to approve travel requests (multiple employees and trainings; individual amounts listed in committee packet): approved (voice vote). - Motion to approve pre-authorizations to expend over $2,500 (multiple line items across airport, central garage, community development, leisure services, MIS, police and streets): approved (voice vote). - Motion to approve multiple budget amendments (police U.S. Marshals project $8,000; machinery/equipment $95,000; fleet $62,000; traffic $243,000; sanitation $51,000; Tri-County $60,000; library $950; others as presented): approved (voice vote). - Motion to receive and forward bill payments ($7,366,470.33 on Jan. 13; $3,328,378.50 on Jan. 21) to full council: approved (voice vote).

The committee did not set follow-up deadlines or direct staff to prepare new financing options for the fiber project during the meeting; the finance director’s statements were informational. The full council will consider the bill payments and any separate financing decisions at a later meeting.