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Lincoln Public Schools holds public hearing on $559 million proposed 2025-26 budget; levy to fall modestly
Summary
The Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education opened a statutorily required public hearing on the district's proposed $559 million 2025-26 budget, which is driven largely by personnel costs and, according to district staff, will lower the general fund levy modestly after newly certified valuations.
The Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education opened a public hearing Monday, Aug. 25, on the district's proposed $559,000,000 budget for the 2025-26 school fiscal year, district staff said.
Dr. Standish, who presented the budget to the board, told attendees the proposed budget is "predominantly personnel, almost 90% personnel," and noted that the district runs "a monthly payroll of about $30,000,000." She said the district aligned spending increases to the four pillars of its strategic plan and emphasized salary and benefit increases as the largest drivers of the budget.
The nut of the proposal is that, despite spending growth, certified property valuations received late in the process mean the district's levy will fall. Dr. Standish said the district's certified valuation increase was 3.59% (reported as 3.6%), lower than an earlier 7% estimate; as a result, she said the levy will decrease by about 8.8 cents and the district expects revenue to rise roughly 4% for 2025-26.
District presentation and context Dr. Standish said state aid to the district rose about $10 million in the most recent year, from $72,000,000 to $82,000,000. She described two measures used to compare expenditure growth: general inflation (cost of goods) and the employment cost index, noting the district's costs are more tied to employment expenses than to consumer-goods inflation.
On revenue mix, Dr. Standish said property taxes account for about 63% of the district's revenue, with state and other local sources making up the remainder. She described how higher property valuations can reduce state equalization aid and said the board will continue to monitor valuation and state aid changes in future years.
Dr. Standish provided examples of household impacts using an "average home" measure. She said an average Lincoln home previously increased in value 23%, which reduced the levy but increased taxes roughly 9% (about $246 annually) because of valuation changes; she said with the current valuation movement, "property taxes are fairly flat" for the average home, but acknowledged individual homeowners' bills will vary based on their parcel's assessed value and growth rate.
Process, engagement and next steps Dr. Standish said the budget process has included two public work sessions, three public forums, six board meetings with public engagement and an online input system used in July. She said three copies of the proposed budget statement were made available in the back of the boardroom and that the official forms filed with the state will be updated after the certified valuation was received.
The board announced two upcoming meetings related to budget adoption: a property tax request hearing at a Board of Education meeting on Sept. 9 and a budget adoption item on Sept. 23.
Public comment and hearing outcome No members of the public signed up to speak on the proposed budget at the hearing. Board staff closed the hearing after announcing there were no blue cards; the hearing record will be considered as the board moves toward formal action on the budget at future meetings.
Ending The board closed the hearing and moved on to other agenda items; no vote on the budget was taken at the hearing itself. The board will consider the certified forms and property tax request at the Sept. 9 meeting and is scheduled to adopt a final budget on Sept. 23.
