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Papillion La Vista holds final tax hearing; board adopts 2025–26 budget
Summary
District officials outlined revenue pressures — including a drop in Title I funding, rising labor and insurance costs, and new school openings — during a public tax hearing. The board later approved the district's 2025'26 budget and related fund budgets in a unanimous roll call vote.
The Papillion La Vista Community Schools Board of Education held a public hearing on the district's final tax request and budget assumptions and later approved the 2025–26 budget.
During the hearing Superintendent Doctor Rickley and Chief Financial Officer Mr. Richards summarized revenue and cost pressures driving the budget proposal, including an estimated $550,000 loss in Title I funding, rising labor and health-insurance costs, and expenses tied to new and expanded facilities and programs. "Labor is our biggest spending item," Richards said, adding that labor accounts for roughly 85 to 87 percent of district spending.
The administration proposed a 2.6 percent general-fund budget increase that sets total budget authority at $169,816,374 and projects roughly $154,000,000 in revenues and expenditures for 2025–26. Richards said assessed valuation in the district rose about 7.6 percent and state aid is up approximately 2.75 percent compared with the prior year. The administration recommended a property-tax request covering three funds — general, bond and special building — and cited an overall tax-revenue increase recommendation of 4.2 percent; Richards reported a property-tax request total of $111,539,393 and read the levy figure from the materials (levy figure as stated in the presentation was not specified clearly in the transcript).
Board members asked no substantive questions at the close of the hearing. The public-comment period produced no speakers, and the board closed the hearing and moved into the regular agenda.
Later in the meeting the board voted to adopt the district's 2025'26 budgets for the general fund, depreciation fund, special building fund, bond fund, school nutrition fund, cooperative fund, student fee fund and activity fund. The motion to adopt the 2025'26 budget was made by Mr. Madler and seconded by Mr. Lotus. Roll call recorded unanimous approval: Mr. Lotus, Mr. Bailey, Ms. Butler, Mr. Madler and Ms. Witt all voted yes; one member (Ms. Wood) was excused from the meeting. The budget adoption appears in the meeting packet as the formal budget resolution and state budget forms.
The administration and board emphasized several items that drove the budget: (1) an estimated 4 percent increase in total-package labor costs that includes a 5.4 percent increase in health-insurance costs; (2) costs associated with a new School Resource Officer (SRO) sergeant position; (3) higher Tier-3 alternative-school placement costs; (4) curriculum and technology inflation; (5) two added bus routes related to the 114th Street widening; (6) one elementary school opening in August 2026 (Lincoln View) and related custodial/operations costs; and (7) a new young-adult transition program for 18- to 21-year-old students. Richards also noted a potential 5 to 7 percent utility-rate increase from the local power provider that could begin in January.
The board did not adopt a final tax levy at the hearing; materials presented at the hearing showed the requested total tax amount and levy figure as read by administration, but the transcript did not capture a clear, unambiguous levy number to publish.
The board approved the budget resolution by roll call; administration said the adoption completes a yearlong budget process that included subcommittee input, negotiations and project planning. No follow-up tasks or contingency approvals were recorded during the vote.
