East Dubuque works to mitigate city deficit

East Dubuque officials are continuing work to reduce the city’s budget deficit, including recent moves to replenish a city fund that was used outside of its intended purpose to support general operational costs. The City Council recently approved the sale of two Sinsinawa Avenue lots, which were intended to house new fire and police stations before those projects were nixed due to financial difficulties. Council members then approved the designation of funds from both property sales to the city’s tax-increment financing account. In recent months, East Dubuque officials revealed that money from the TIF account, along with other city accounts, had been used to cover general operational costs when they should not have been. This left the city’s general fund at a negative balance of $885,006 at the end of fiscal year 2022, a deficit that increased to $1,010,328 by the end of fiscal year 2023. The $188,000 from the sale of the two properties was designated for the city’s downtown TIF district fund as a “down payment” toward restoration of the fund. The money represents about a 20% reduction in the city’s $1 million deficit recorded at the end of the last fiscal year.