The Indianola City Council and City of Indianola continue to work on the FY26 budget, which included a work session Monday that included comments from community organizations looking to receive funds from the hotel/motel tax the city awards. Mayor Steve Richardson tells KNIA News there are many tough decisions to be made and many individuals and organizations won’t be happy with the possible outcomes, but he appreciates the civil and patient discourse from the community during the budget process.

“I applaud the folks who came in, I know they were all passionate about the things they wanted funding for and I certainly appreciate that. But they did a great job about being civil with the discourse and possibilities. That’s what I expect about Indianola. I expect us to be civil with our neighbors and to do the best we can.”

Richardson said the city is cutting from the budget both from the current fiscal year and for FY26, and the city is continuing to work on finding ways to save money.