At the most recent Kalona City Council meeting, the city’s finance committee presented their proposed budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, and the council set a public hearing to review the budget for March 6th. City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said they gave a synopsis to the council of any changes to the coming budget, though it was mostly straightforward. There was one significant way this year’s budget differed from previous years, as Schlabaugh explains, “The biggest change we had this particular fiscal year is that we did take on some debt for the community center project. And we will have some debt service, which is just the principal and interest payment on there. So that’s reflected in this year’s numbers, but otherwise it’s pretty straightforward with our standard budget that we’ve tried to stay within.” Schlabaugh adds, he feels the staff did a good job this year of staying within their means. Citizens of Kalona are encouraged to attend the public hearing, which will be held March 6th in the Kalona City Hall.