# Dubuque City Council Work Sessions and Meeting | October 5, 2026 (LIVE)

The Dubuque City Council held a special work session and regular meeting on October 5, 2026. In the work session, staff reviewed the new strategic budget leadership academy used to prepare departments’ FY2028 budgets. The process asks departments to connect services, resources, performance measures, and proposed changes to council priorities; capital requests will be described as “strategic investments.” Four Mounds presented its programs and plans for a workforce training center and capital campaign, but no city funding decision was made. In regular business, the council voted 5–2 to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute a downtown master plan update contract with RDG Planning and Design; no contract amount was stated. The council also set an October 19 public hearing on issuing up to $11,000 in water revenue capital loan notes for the private service line replacement pilot, Phase 2.

The council approved multiple urban renewal plans and tax increment financing (TIF) ordinances, including changes involving the former Flex Steel site, Prairie Farms, and a new Subarea Z associated with development agreements with Outfly Development LLC and Verina Court Exchange LLC. These actions implement recent Iowa law changes, including provisions allowing eligible districts to capture increment for up to 23 years, while the council clarified that this is a maximum window rather than an automatic extension of individual development agreements. The changes also remove the former mandatory low- and moderate-income housing set-aside, affecting future housing incentives. The council received an update on the city manager recruitment process being coordinated with GMP Consultants and discussed job-description revisions, including a residency requirement; no final hiring or compensation decision was made.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Construction & Infrastructure, Professional Services
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure, Policy
**Published:** October 05, 2026

### Sources
- [Dubuque City Council Work Sessions and Meeting | October 5, 2026 (LIVE)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Im3djBFwH0) - City of Dubuque Government