City of Dubuque Makes Spending Cuts To Offset Financial Loss

Dubuque City Council members voted unanimously Monday to cancel or defer millions of dollars in spending this fiscal year as the city braces for an “unprecedented” financial hit from the ongoing pandemic. Overall, city officials cut about $12.3 million from the budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30 through a combination of savings from completed or canceled projects and reductions in department operating budgets A couple of the projects cut or altered include: $5 million to repave an aircraft parking apron at Dubuque Regional Airport and $200,000 that had been set aside for a traffic study to analyze making Central Avenue a two-way street. City officials project a $4 million financial loss by July 1 and another $12 million loss by July 1, 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.