Annually, the city shall prepare and adopt a budget, and shall certify taxes as follows (per Iowa Code § 384.16).
(A) (1) A budget shall be prepared for at least the following fiscal year. When required by rules of the State City Finance Committee, a tentative budget shall be prepared for one or two ensuing years. The proposed budget shall show estimates of the following:
(a) Expenditures for each program;
(b) Income from sources other than property taxation; and
(c) Amount to be raised by property taxation, and the property tax rate expressed in dollars per $1,000 valuation.
(2) The budget shall show comparisons between the estimated expenditures in each program in the following year and the actual expenditures in each program during the two preceding years. Wherever practicable, as provided in rules of the State Department of Management City Finance Committee, a budget shall show comparisons between the levels of service provided by each program as estimated for the following year, and actual levels of service provided by each program during the two preceding years.
(B) Not less than 20 days before the date that the budget must be certified to the County Auditor and, not less than ten days before the date set for hearing, the Clerk-Treasurer shall make available a sufficient number of copies of the budget to meet reasonable demands of taxpayers, and have them available for review at the offices of the Clerk.
(C) The City Council shall set a time and place for public hearing on the budget before the final certification date and shall publish notice before the hearing as provided by state law. Proof of publication shall be filed with the County Auditor.
(D) At the hearing, any resident or taxpayer of the city may present to the City Council objections to any part of the budget for the following fiscal year or arguments in favor of any part of the budget.
(E) After the hearing, the City Council shall adopt a budget for at least the following fiscal year, and the Clerk shall certify the necessary tax levy for the following year to the County Auditor and the County Board of Supervisors. The tax levy certified may be less than, but not more than, the amount estimated in the proposed budget, unless an additional tax levy is approved at a city election. Two copies of the complete budget as adopted shall be transmitted to the County Auditor.
(Prior Code, § 2-5-1) (Ord. 03-04, passed 9-9-2003)
Statutory reference
Similar provisions, see Iowa Code § 384.16(2)