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Dubuque City Council adopts FY2027 budget, holds levy steady and approves utility rate increases
Summary
The Dubuque City Council unanimously adopted an amended FY2027 budget that keeps the city property tax rate unchanged and approves several utility rate increases and a multi-year capital plan. Council members pledged a review of administrative overhead allocation after widespread public concern.
DUBUQUE — The Dubuque City Council adopted an amended fiscal year 2027 budget on April 28, 2026, voting unanimously to receive, file and adopt the package while keeping the city's property tax rate at about $10.06 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Larson told the council the revised recommendation was possible after the city received stronger-than-expected DRA rent projections — a recurring increase she quantified as $223,003.85 — and a $93,722 reduction in recurring general-fund expenses tied to changes at 5 Flags’ private management. "This revised recommended budget actually maintains the current property tax rate in fiscal year 2027," Larson said during the presentation.
Nut graf: The council approved a five-year capital-improvement plan that includes significant water, sewer, stormwater and solid-waste investments and a set of enterprise rate adjustments to pay for them. Council members stressed they would pursue greater transparency and a policy review of how shared administrative costs are allocated among enterprise funds after several residents raised legal and equity concerns at the public hearing.
Larson outlined rate and service impacts. The revised utility recommendations include a 3% water-rate increase, a 9% sanitary-sewer increase, a 9% stormwater increase and an 8% solid-waste collection increase (reduced from an initial 9% proposal). The CFO said the average residential impact modeled for a home with an assessed value of $213,211 is about $17.56 in the city's share of property tax, or roughly 1.97% under the recommended package, and that average monthly utilities would rise by approximately $6.59 for a typical user under the plan.
The presentation also described a multi-year capital program totaling about $240 million for infrastructure, vehicles and equipment. Larson said FY27 would carry roughly $13 million in new general-obligation debt with an additional $76.7 million proposed across the five-year CIP; she reported total debt rising to roughly $293.5 million in FY27.
Public hearing and council follow-up: Dozens of residents spoke before the council, focusing largely on two themes: affordability and the method the city uses to allocate administrative overhead to enterprise funds. Several speakers said enterprise-fund payments to administrative departments had grown rapidly and argued that the percentage-of-budget allocation method lacks a direct link to services provided.
Michael Walloo, a speaker who said he is a CPA and retired IRS agent, warned of legal risk if allocations lack a documented service nexus, citing state guidance and federal cost principles: "A method that has to be gradually phased in because it produces large shifts may be harder to defend as a reasonable cost allocation," he said.
Council response and vote: Council members acknowledged the public concerns and several pledged a "deep dive" later this year to examine the administrative-recharge methodology, while noting the city faces specific infrastructure-driven expenses — such as PFAS remediation and lead-service-line replacements — that require funds. After debate, the council voted to approve the amended budget package and then moved through a series of actions setting FY2027 rates and fees.
Votes at a glance: The council approved the amended budget and individually approved the following ordinances/resolutions, all by unanimous roll calls (7–0): water rates ordinance (final passage), sanitary sewer rates ordinance (final passage), water and resource-recovery fee schedule (resolution), stormwater-management utility-rate ordinance (final passage), five-year street construction program (resolution), and solid-waste utility-rate ordinance (final passage).
What happens next: Council members said the administrative-overhead allocation review will be scheduled to ensure compliance and transparency; rate ordinances took effect as adopted by the council after final passage. The city clerk recorded the roll-call votes and the meeting adjourned the same night.
