The city of Lincoln could take some $14.8 million more in property taxes without raising its levy for the next fiscal year, a windfall that would result from the dramatic increases in property values after the recent reevaluation.
But Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird is proposing that the city take $8 million rather than $14 million for the general fund and cut the levy by 1.76 cents per $100 of valuation, a 6.9% reduction and the largest in 20 years.
That, however, doesn’t mean that the amount any property owner will pay to the city will decrease. In fact, with a 23% average valuation increase in Lancaster County, most will see their taxes increase, just not as much as if the city had taken the other $6 million and not lowered the levy.
More than half of that $8 million would be spent on public safety with $1.86 million going to a new contract with firefighters; $850,000 for a pair of tanker trucks for the fire department needed to serve newer annexed areas of the city that have limited access to hydrants; $580,000 for the police and fire pension fund; and $140,000 to hire a specialist in human resources to recruit police officers, firefighters and seasonal parks employees.
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The final $1 million would go to renovating the fire department’s municipal service center near the airport so the department’s administration can move there while Station 1 at 18th and Q streets is renovated.
That public safety spending reflects one of the shared priorities of the mayor and the citizenry and is both reasonable, and in the case of the pensions, legally required.
Another $580,000 will be used to replace lost state and federal funds now being used for city programs, specifically $170,000 for the Health Department for contract tracing, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and $412,000 to StarTran to replace a reduction in federal funding based on a newly adopted state formula that prioritizes smaller communities.
Other large expenditures included in the mayor’s budget proposals would use $1.3 million to replace the 17-year-old entry/exit control system in the city’s parking garages $600,000 for South Haymarket Park and $500,000 for senior services at the new location in Victory Park because the sale of the old senior citizen center downtown didn't match the estimate.
The city is also receiving revenue from its share of tax receipts from the new War Horse Casino. But those monies are not being used to fund the budget because of the uncertainty of how much revenue will be generated.
So far, the city has been receiving $100,000 a month, about half of what casino operators originally projected. That amounts to $1.2 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year, $500,000 of which will be held in reserve in case Keno revenue — used for parks, libraries and human services — drops and $700,000 would go to develop and rehab existing affordable housing.
That casino budgeting is prudent and addresses another pressing city need for affordable and workforce housing.
Because the city now operates on a biennial budget, the mayor’s proposal is an $8 million-upward adjustment to $261.5 million from the $253.5 million budget set last year for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
That also makes the budget adjustment process quick. The City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget changes Aug. 14 and will vote on Aug. 21, likely approving most, if not all, of the well-considered new spending and the appreciated levy reduction.
