Isleton council conditionally adopts 2024–25 budget to preserve grant eligibility, cedes spending to finance committee

Council voted on Jan. 7 to approve the City of Isleton’s fiscal year 2024–25 municipal budget on the condition that the ad hoc finance advisory committee retain spending authority while staff and consultants revise and audit the document.

Vesta Begbie, a CPA consulting on the city’s insolvency review, told the council the draft budget is unreliable and “the town is in a really rough spot financially.” Begbie urged the council to keep a tight oversight role; the motion approved by the council gives spending oversight to the existing ad hoc finance committee (the mayor and vice mayor) and directs staff to work with the CPA and counsel on prioritized payments.

Council members said the action was necessary to keep Isleton eligible for a competitive water and environmental grant that outside offices have signaled could be worth between $350,000 and $2.6 million. A council member summarized the situation: the federal representative’s office is calling to clear due‑outs and the grant application requires a budget; passing a conditional budget was presented as a technical but crucial step toward funding wastewater and sewer work.

The resolution does not finalize line‑by‑line allocations. Instead, it (a) conditionally adopts the FY 2024–25 budget subject to later corrections and (b) delegates near‑term spending review to the ad hoc committee so that staff and consultants can vet payments before disbursement. Council and the CPA emphasized further audit work will produce a substantially revised budget at subsequent meetings. The council recorded a formal vote to approve the conditional budget with the committee spending stipulation.