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Dardenne Prairie presents balanced FY2025 budget; board questions police, streets, and economic development spending
Summary
City staff presented a balanced FY2025 operating budget projecting a 10% revenue increase and a 27% rise in non‑capital expenditures driven by police and street maintenance; aldermen asked about IT procurement, economic-development contracts and competitive bidding for park concessions.
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. — City staff presented a balanced FY2025 operating budget that projects revenues will rise about 10% while non‑capital expenditures increase about 27%, largely to cover expanded police services and higher street maintenance costs.
The city administrator (presenting the overview) told aldermen the budget shows an ending fund balance of $10,400,000, with $4.8 million in the general fund and line items that include scheduled debt service of $1.4 million and personnel costs roughly $1.4 million. "We are presenting a balanced budget," the city administrator said, adding that some capital projects are being deferred and that revenues include grant funding related to road projects and a projected 3% increase in court fines.
On police services, the administrator said staff temporarily doubled the placeholder for contracted police costs while they meet with the county police department about service options. Street maintenance was highlighted as a priority: $1.2 million is allocated for the county maintenance-and-repair agreement (concrete/asphalt), with $50,000 for in‑house work, $200,000 for crack sealing and $20,000 for unscheduled repairs.
Board members asked several line-item questions. On IT services, staff said the city intends to put IT, security and door-lock systems out to bid with an aim to consolidate vendors and extend service hours beyond standard business times. On economic development, members raised concerns about a three‑year contract with a vendor called Nexite and requested metrics to show whether the city captured measurable value from that arrangement. One board member asked staff to return with benchmarks and recommendations for next year’s economic‑development spending.
The budget presentation also included a placeholder for park improvements such as batting cages and a pitching machine; the administrator said capital-project prioritization and cost estimates will proceed during the capital-improvement-plan development in January. A $26,000 budget line to maintain Tree City USA status was explained as largely a bookkeeping requirement that can be met with in‑kind activities such as planting and mulching.
Staff agreed to provide alternative formats of the budget packet (some members reported an inability to open the original file) and to gather requested follow-up information ahead of adoption.
Next procedural steps: staff will refine details and return line‑item clarifications to the board as part of the normal budget adoption schedule.
