Joplin city council discusses proposed 2026 city budget

The Joplin City Council was scheduled to hold 3 public meetings last week on the proposed 2026 city budget.

Mayor Keenan Cortez told Newstalk KZRG:

“They went off without a hitch. We were able to sit down Monday night at 5:45 and go until about 9:30 line by line through the budget. And then we sat down on Tuesday night from about 5:45 till about 9:00 clock, a couple minutes after, and we’re able to get everything completed in the Monday and Tuesday sessions and didn’t need a Wednesday session”

The Mayor said there was very little attendance by the public to the meetings.

During one of last week’s Joplin budget meetings, one item caught attention.

According to Mayor Keenan Cortez:

“Some of the things that have made the headlines, of course, is authorizing an electric study. Should the city of Joplin create its own electric utility that did pass. So there’s money being appropriated to a study to find out if it’s even feasible for the city of Joplin to partner with somebody and, or create its own electric utility.”