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North Platte holds public hearing on Ordinance 4221 budget; council to vote Sept. 16
Summary
City Finance Director Don Miller presented the proposed 2025-26 budget at a statutorily required public hearing. No ordinance vote was taken; the council closed the hearing by procedural vote 7-0 and will consider Ordinance 4221 at its Sept. 16 meeting.
The North Platte City Council held a public hearing Thursday on Ordinance 4221, the proposed fiscal year 2025-26 budget, with Finance Director Don Miller outlining proposed revenues, expenditures and levy changes. Mayor Kelleher opened the hearing and said no formal vote on the ordinance would be taken at the special meeting; the council is scheduled to vote on the ordinance at its regular meeting on Sept. 16, 2025.
Miller told the council the proposed general fund revenue for 2025-26 is $41,643,209, an increase of about $1,780,000 (4.5%) from the 2024-25 budget. That rise includes an additional $725,000 budgeted for sales tax and $750,000 in higher beginning cash balance. Miller also noted a reserved cash balance of $13,517,953 that is not reflected in the 2025-26 general fund budget. The city proposes general fund expenditures of $38,233,553, about $1,062,497 (2.9%) more than the prior year; the three largest departments—police, fire and public service—account for roughly 75.09% of the general fund budget.
Miller said the city is proposing a total property tax request increase of $189,275, equal to a 2.49% increase in the total dollar property tax request over the prior year. At the same time, the proposed mill levy would fall from 36.2423 mills to 35.7962 mills per $100 of assessed valuation (a reduction of roughly 0.4461 mills or about 1.23%). The presentation compared the proposed levy to the previous 12 years and noted the last time the levy was below 40 mills was 1999 (38.75 mills).
Miller also said the city's total budgeted expenditures across all funds show an overall decrease of about $6.7 million (2.44%), driven mainly by reduced planned spending in recreation infrastructure and in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund. He said the city budget is presented across 37 funds and provided handouts tying the fund-level totals back to the presentation slides.
The hearing was convened under LB 148 (Nebraska Legislature, 2020), which requires municipalities to hold the budget hearing separately from a regularly scheduled meeting. After Miller's presentation the council allowed a one-minute period for public comments; no members of the public spoke. Councilmember Vols moved to close the public hearing; Councilmember Reker seconded. The council closed the hearing by a 7-0 voice vote.
No formal action on Ordinance 4221 was taken at the Sept. 11 hearing. The council will consider adoption of the ordinance at its regular meeting on Sept. 16 at 5:30 p.m., with a work session and a presentation by MPPD at 4:30 p.m.
