Keith County presents $5.86 million property-tax request; 98% jump tied to $18.6 million lake infrastructure allocation

Corey Crandall, Keith County commissioner for District 2, told a public budget hearing that the county's preliminary property-tax request is $5,864,774.07 and that the large, headline-making increase shown on some documents is driven by a possible $18.6 million allocation for lake-area infrastructure. "This is not actually 98.15%," Crandall said, explaining the figure results from including funds the county is still trying to secure.

The apparent jump stems from an $18,600,000 allocation originally in the Nebraska Game and Parks budget tied to the lake project the county described as the "Star Wars" marina plan. Crandall said the funds, earmarked for roads and other infrastructure around the lake, were held up by the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services (DAS) after reaching the governor's desk. "DAS said no. We're not gonna let Keith County have those dollars," he said. The county said it is continuing to lobby the Legislature and is working with Senator Paul Stroman to try to reclaim the funds.

Why it matters: including the $18.6 million in the county's draft budget inflates year-over-year comparisons even though the money is not yet approved or received. Commissioners said the county would reflect any awarded grant dollars in the budget if and when the funds are formally allocated.

County figures and growth calculations presented at the hearing: commissioners said new real-property growth totaled about $29,000,000, which produced a 1.17% real-growth factor. The state's base allowable growth of 2.00% plus the 1.17% real growth yielded a total allowable increase the presenters described as 3.17% in the statutory calculation. The county reported last year's property-tax request as $6,015,354.84 and the current request as $5,864,774.07.

Crandall and other commissioners outlined line-item review and reductions made through multiple budget work sessions held in August and September. Crandall described approximately $1.2 million of reductions being sought during the internal budget process and credited department staff for trimming costs. He also detailed operating pressures including payroll increases and recruitment/retention pay adjustments intended to reduce turnover in road crews and other county functions.

Information-technology costs were a recurring topic. Crandall said the county's information-technology budget has grown substantially in recent years and that a contract with an outside vendor, 5 Nines, has risen from roughly $60,000 to about $145,000. He said the county will issue a request for proposals (RFP) when the current contract ends and indicated the county must provide 180 days' notice; "as of December 1, we have a hundred and 80 days we gotta give them notice, and we're gonna RFP," Crandall said.

Public participation and documents: Commissioners noted hard copies of the budget were available at the hearing for residents to follow along. Crandall gave the county contact phone number cited in the public notice: (308) 284-4726 for questions about the property-tax request.

What commissioners said they will do next: the county will continue to press state officials and Senator Paul Stroman to recover the lake-related funds. If those funds are awarded, the county said it would include them in the final budget and apply them to roads and other infrastructure around the lake as allowed by the original allocation language.