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Iola City Council votes to exceed revenue-neutral rate and approves 2025 budget
Summary
The Iola City Council voted to adopt a resolution to exceed the revenue-neutral rate and subsequently approved the city's published 2025 budget after discussing levy options, ending-balance targets and a reduced electric CIP transfer. Two members were recorded absent during the roll call.
The Iola City Council voted to adopt a resolution to exceed the revenue-neutral rate and then approved the city's 2025 budget as published.
Mayor French opened a public hearing on the revenue-neutral rate (RNR) and invited residents to comment before the council's deliberations. A resident, Ken nus bomb, said he had received a notice of a proposed property tax increase and asked why his property assessment rose $10,000; city staff explained assessed values are set by the county appraiser, not the city, and confirmed the council's public hearing notice and upcoming county meeting dates.
After the hearing, council members discussed several levy scenarios and the city's financial position. Staff and council referenced a current levy level described in the meeting as roughly 46 mills and said that a target in the low-50s (the transcript cites 52 mills as a planning target) would move the general fund balance toward a roughly $1 million target. Council discussed that reducing the proposed increase to 1.5 mills would lower the projected ending balance by about $51,000 compared with the staff recommendation; staff noted that such a shortfall would likely be addressed by delaying equipment purchases or maintenance rather than cutting core services.
Council members also noted a longstanding transfer from the electric capital-improvement fund that had been supporting the general fund; that transfer was described as reduced from $1 million to $500,000 in the current budget and was discussed as a temporary measure that will decline if assessed valuation continues to rise.
A motion to adopt the referenced resolution to exceed the revenue-neutral rate was made and carried on a roll call. The council then opened and closed the 2025 budget hearing (no public comments were offered during that hearing) and voted to approve the 2025 budget as published. The roll calls recorded multiple "yes" votes and at least two absences; the transcript records the names of several council members and notes others were absent.
What happens next: the council adopted the budget and the associated resolution to exceed the RNR, and staff will implement the approved 2025 spending plan and levy as recorded in the adopted documents.
