The Marshalltown City Council approved several key measures designed to help reduce the city’s current general fund deficit during a special meeting on Monday.

City Finance Director Diana Steiner provided the council with several key options for reducing the city’s overall budget deficit during the regular council meeting held on January 24th.

At Monday’s special meeting, the council approved reducing departmental expenditures from roughly 92-thousand dollars to 79-thousand dollars. The city’s overall contribution to the chamber of commerce was increased from 50 percent to 56 percent or approximately $52,000. The total amount of revenues generated from the American Rescue Plan Act were increased from $42,000 to $288,000, which in turn helped reduce the need for utilizing council-designated local option sales tax dollars.

The council agreed to retain the services of Roger Schoell, who has provided guidance in handling various legal issues for the city.

The council also discussed the idea of imposing an urban tree fee of at least one dollar per individual citizen per year. The council declined taking action on the matter, but agreed to revisit the issue at a future meting with the possibility of setting the fee at between a dollar and a $1.50.