The Indianola City Council and City of Indianola staff are continuing work on building a budget for the FY26 beginning in July, made difficult by the House File 718 law that limits how much revenue local governments can generate through property taxes. Interim City Manager Wade Wagoner tells KNIA News they are asking city department heads to cut 10% from their budgets from last year.

“We’re trying to have conversations with our legislators to let them know the economic realities of our situation. But at the end of the day, less is less. We have to make hard decisions about what services we are going to cut. Is it going to be parks, is it going to be the library, is it going to be potentially furloughing staff or hiring freezes. It’s a disheartening situation right now.”

Wagoner said the budget process is ongoing, and there are multiple opportunities for the public to have their voices heard either at council meetings or reaching out to council members directly.