The Estherville City Council approved consolidating its fire and police departments into a shared facility on Monday.
In March, the city council finalized a purchase of a building to accommodate the fire department. After a study was conducted, it showed the facility could house both departments, as first reported by Explore Okoboji.
According to a city memo, combining the departments in one building would return about $250,000 in the general fund by selling the current police department building.
The consolidation would also save about $35,000 per year in operational and additional costs of the EPD building.
The memo states the city currently faces a projected $120,000 property tax revenue reduction starting in FY2029. However, the savings from the consolidation would offset about 30 percent of the deficit.
