The Dixon City Council unanimously approved its fiscal 2027 budget Monday.

In February, the council began holding meetings to draft its budget and heard funding pitches from various department heads and community organizations. They voted March 16 to place it on file and it’s available on the city of Dixon website.

“I’m pleased with the process and where we got to,” Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss told Shaw Local. “The big thing is we’re in the black.”

Langloss said that a major thing the city had to contend with when drafting its budget was uncontrollable rising costs and combating that by increasing sales tax revenue.

That’s been largely successful thanks to the city’s major economic development along South Galena Avenue near Interstate 88, known as the Gateway Project, Langloss said.

The city broke ground on the 27-acre commercial real estate site between Keul and Bloody Gulch roads in 2022. It has since opened several businesses, including a Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, Casey’s gas station, a Fairfield Inn by Marriott and several others.

Langloss estimated those businesses generated about $200,000 in new sales tax in 2025. It’s also greatly increased the city’s hotel tax revenue.

One specific item of note in the budget is funding for a new radio system for the Dixon Police Department, called STARCOM21, which is used by emergency services statewide.

The radios currently being used have some dead spots that prevent the department from communicating with other local law enforcement agencies. The new system would eliminate those issues, Langloss said.

The city is pushing for $371,786 in federal funds for the project, and it was submitted for consideration by U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, as part of his 2027 community project funding requests.

Other budget items in Dixon’s budget include $200,000 for the Dixon Historic Theater, which its executive director previously told Shaw Local is planned to be used for events, and $350,000 for Discover Dixon.

For at least the past three years, the city has allocated $325,000 to Discover Dixon, which runs Dixon’s tourism efforts and holds community events, among other things. In 2025, it held upward of 70 events, Langloss said.