FY26 Budget

Waukee City Council approved the budget and 5-year capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2026 at their meeting on Monday, April 21, 2025. The City’s property tax rate was lowered from $12.95 to $12.80 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. The $159.4 million budget includes general fund expenditures of $27.2 million, business and proprietary expenses of $45.1 million, debt service expenditures of $15.6 million and capital improvement expenditures of $51.2 million. View the full FY26 budget book here. If you have questions, please email them communications@waukee.org. 

What does that mean?

General fund expenses include wages, benefits and operational costs, like consulting, software, fuel, maintenance of facilities and equipment, materials and utilities for all departments, except for utility departments and the golf course. That includes everything from City Council to the Fire Department to the Library to IT. Business and proprietary expenses include wages, benefits and all costs associated with running the Water, Sewer, Gas, Storm Water Departments (the utilities) and Sugar Creek Municipal Golf Course, including construction of infrastructure. Debt service is paying back principal and interest on the long term debt that the City has taken out to fund the bigger, expensive projects, like the new Public Safety facility. Capital improvement includes other major projects, such as new parks, new road construction and remodeling city buildings.

Where does the City get its money?

The budget has an estimated $26.8 million in revenue and $27.2 million in anticipated expenditures for much of the regular City operations. Funding sources for the General Fund are 61% property tax revenue, 13% transfers, 10% fees from licenses and permits, 7% charges for City services, 4% from intergovernmental sources and 5% from other sources.  

What does the General Fund pay for?

The General Fund supports a range of services and operations for the City of Waukee. 62% goes to public safety, which includes police, fire, EMS, building inspections and animal control. 20% goes toward recreation, such as park and trail maintenance and City-run events. 9% goes toward general government operations. 5% goes toward public works services. 3% goes toward community and economic development. Note that major road projects, street construction, new park construction, street maintenance and utility system operations are paid for through other funding sources. 

Property Taxes

Property taxes is the largest portion of revenue for the General Fund. The City of Waukee receives 36 cents from each property tax dollar paid for by a homeowner in Waukee. Other taxing entities receive the remainder of the funds, including the Waukee Community School District, Dallas County, the State of Iowa, community colleges and other agencies. You can find more details on property taxes at Waukee.org/Tax.

For Fiscal Year 2026, the City of Waukee is again lowering its tax levy by 15 cents to a total City levy of 12.80 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. We're able to do this because of Waukee's growth and the City's efforts to keep operational costs as low as possible while keeping a high quality for the services we provide. 

What are highlights from the budget?

The FY26 budget covers continued City operations as they are today as well as new projects that align with the City Council's strategic goals. Here are some highlights:

New staff positions will help meet the needs of our growing community. 

The City expects to add 4 full-time police officers with the help of two COPS grants and a cost-share for a School Resource Officer with the Waukee Community School District. To staff our new Public Safety building, which brings us to two full-time fire stations, the City will add 3 full-time firefighter/paramedics. A new economic development coordinator will help facilitate development agreements, market Waukee as a place to locate business and assist with business retention efforts that help keep the Waukee economy strong. Public Works will add one full-time streets laborer to help maintain our ever-expanding road network. 

$51.2 million for Capital Improvement Projects will improve major roads and add amenities for residents to enjoy. 

• The City will begin phase 1 of a multi-year University Avenue Extension project to close the remaining gap between Warrior Lane and 6th Street. This project includes improvements to several streets that intersect with University Avenue, four underpasses and other enhancements to the area. 
• NE Alice’s Road is getting major enhancements through a widening project in partnership with the City of Clive. 
• Street and facility improvements will continue the momentum for a refreshed and vibrant Downtown Triangle. 
• The current Public Safety building on L.A. Grant Parkway will be refurbished to better serve the needs of the Waukee Fire Department and transition the Police Department side of the building into space for other City staff. We are a rapidly growing City, and many of our departments are outgrowing current office space. 
• In Ridge Pointe Park, we are adding an outdoor fitness court through a grant from the National Fitness Campaign. 

Small increases to utility rates will help cover increasing costs.

Like you experience in your daily life, the City has seen increases to the goods and services it needs to operate, including for the utility services you get from the City. The proposed FY26 budget includes modest increases to water, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste rates. The changes will net a 3.77% increase, which is about $4.89 more per month billing for the average Waukee household. 

How does the City make the budget?

It's a long and very involved process. Each spring, the Mayor, City Council and City staff work on strategic planning to identify needs within Waukee and prioritize projects. This helps inform the budget process, which starts around October. Department heads estimate costs for daily operations, including staff, office supplies, software licenses and utilities for offices. They also add in costs for maintenance work, events, equipment and all the projects they will work on for the next year. The Finance team takes all those inputs, expected revenues and priorities to lay out the detailed budget. This goes back to City Council for review in January or February. 

The City submits property tax levy information to Dallas County in March. Then we post notices to the public, so community members can give feedback through two public hearings, one for the proposed property tax levy and one for the budget. After those hearings, the City Council votes. The approved budget gets filed with the State of Iowa at the end of April.The final approved budget and capital improvement plan are part of our public record, and you are able to access them at Waukee.org throughout the year.