The Lincoln City Council on Monday approved a biennial budget that — bolstered by an anticipated 18% increase in sales tax revenue the first year — will add more than 60 new positions, including firefighters, police officers, 911 dispatchers and public health nurses.
The council approved several amendments to the budget that will have the net effect of using $1.5 million from two cash reserve funds for a business incentive and energy incentives for homeowners.
Richard Meginnis, the only Republican on the council who introduced several of the amendments, ultimately was the only vote against approval of the two-year tax-funded budget.
“It’s too much of an increase in one year,†he said in an interview after the meeting. “The budget presented to us was too robust in today’s times.â€
The $243.5 million tax-funded budget for 2022-23 represents a 7.4% increase in spending — or nearly $16.7 million. The budget will increase by $9.8 million, or 4%, the second year of the budget.
The two primary sources of revenue are property and sales taxes, though various fees and an occupation tax comprise about a quarter of the city’s revenue.
The budget was built on the assumption that property valuations will rise 3% in 2022-23 and 7% the following year, and that robust sales tax revenue will level out in the second year, rising just 1.2%.
The city plans to lower its tax rate by a half-cent, saving taxpayers $1.2 million.
The overall tax rate — for the general fund, plus smaller levies for the library, police and fire pension and bond repayment — will be 31.293 cents per $100 of valuation. The owner of a $226,342 home in Lincoln — the average price in 2021 — would pay $708.29 to fund city government, a savings of $11.31 compared with last year.
The city’s share of property taxes collected is 16%. The lion’s share of a homeowner’s tax bill — 61% — goes to support Lincoln Public Schools.
The budget marks the return to the city's practice of passing biennial budgets. The past two budgets were each single-year budgets because of the uncertainty of the pandemic.
More than half of new positions in the budget will bolster public safety and health departments, including five additional police officers the second year of the budget cycle, along with three civilian employees; six additional firefighters, two emergency dispatchers and eight public health nurses to expand a visitation program for all new mothers.
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Meginnis had initially suggested amending the budget proposed by Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird to eliminate expansion of the visitation program, but he didn’t get the support of his colleagues so it remained.
Existing funds will pay for expanding the program the first year, and it will cost $153,633 the following year. After that, the annual cost will be $737,725, a portion of which will be paid by the county.
Meginnis’ colleagues also narrowly voted against another of his proposals, which would have eliminated a new Health Department position, a job intended to create an emergency management plan for human impacts of natural disasters.
Not all the added positions are paid through the tax-funded budget. Some will be paid through pet licensing fees, and others are paid with federal funds. Some are in joint city-county offices, so the county assumes a portion of the cost.
The council did approve other budget amendments by Meginnis, as well as by Bennie Shobe and Sändra Washington.
Those include Meginnis’ proposal to add $1 million from the cash reserves to a little-used business incentive called the Fast Forward Fund; Shobe's proposal to add $250,000 each year for incentives for homeowners buying more efficient heating-and-cooling systems; and Washington's proposal to add $100,000 to the capital improvement program to study the impact of development in the Salt Creek watershed.
The council also approved freezing fee increases for child care programs and food service businesses, and shifting money from an unfilled City Council position to pay for additional employees in the city clerk’s office.
Both Tammy Ward and Meginnis voted against increases on occupation taxes for refuse haulers, though those increases ultimately passed on a 5-2 vote.
Despite a recommendation from a mayor-appointed StarTran Advisory Board to continue fare-free bus ridership, the council went along with the mayor’s proposal to reintroduce fees but at a lower rate than before the pandemic.
The budget also includes plans to spend $42.6 million in 2022-23 and $45.5 million the following year on street improvements and new construction. That includes about $15 million each year in revenue from the quarter-cent sales tax for streets.