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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- At the Ottumwa City Council Tuesday evening, the nearly $79 million budget for expenditures was okayed by four out of five council members.

The city’s finance director said that over the past couple of years, the budget process has gone smoothly with everyone working together.

Now that the budget has been okayed, the city can now proceed with the next steps in the budget process.

“The next step is that we'll be setting a public hearing on the 19th of February and then we'll be publishing the budget on the 21st and the public hearing will be held March 5 when we'll vote on the budget,” said Bob Jay, Finance Director.

The city budget’s emphasis will be on street maintenance and reconstruction, sewers and bridges. The city will be concentrating on street repairs in the most heavily trafficked areas.