Public Works and Solid Waste present budgets focused on reliability, rate adjustments and landfill convenience center

Public Works Director Arielle Swift told the City Council that Public Works is a lean, 94-person operation responsible for continuous city services and emergency response. The FY2027 recommended items emphasize preserving reliability—fleet replacement, overtime for special events, and safety-related equipment—rather than service expansions.

Swift highlighted operational changes completed this year, including modernizing fuel islands, expanding snow storage from nine to over 15 acres to reduce river impacts, and improvements that strengthened Moss Park flood response. She described coordination of overlay, ADA ramp work, and concrete street section repair programs intended to extend pavement life and manage costs.

Solid waste administrator Ken Miller presented the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency (DMASWA) proposal, which includes an 8.97% rate increase—an 86¢ monthly impact for the average household—and continuation of a 50% discount for income-eligible households (about 615 households last year). Miller also described plans to equalize alley rates and pursue route optimization, noting the operational complexity of multiple waste streams and current inventory constraints for larger recycling carts (roughly 300 households remain on a waiting list for 96-gallon recycling carts).

Miller provided details about the landfill convenience center (the 'drop zone'), a customer convenience/transfer facility planned to open in early–mid 2027. The new facility will offer an indoor transfer station so residents need not back up to weather-exposed roll-offs, and will provide household hazardous materials, electronics, appliance recycling, glass drop-off, organics, tires and potential prescription drug drop-off under canopy-protected areas and paved access.

During public comment, residents praised recent paving and collection service while raising concerns about the increase in administrative overhead recharges (questions on how the charges are calculated and where funds are used). Council followed up with questions about route efficiency studies (staff noted a consultant quote of roughly $250,000 for a full route optimization mapping), inventory constraints for tipper cart sizes, and clarification that some overhead accounting shifts reflect transfers of FTEs between departments rather than net new personnel.

Council and staff agreed to follow up with further documentation on administrative overhead calculations, and staff noted that several capital and equipment replacements are funded through enterprise funds (road use, solid waste) rather than property tax. Ken Miller noted that planned hauled-waste and transfer-station investments are supported by user fees and that a recent federal grant reduced planned tip fees for hauled waste.