Lincoln Public Schools presents preliminary budget; district to fund half of school counselors after federal grant ends

Lincoln Public Schools Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs Liz Standish presented a preliminary budget at a public forum, saying the district will file its budget on Sept. 30 and expects a property tax request hearing on Sept. 9.

Standish said the district is proposing an overall levy of about $1.04 and a general-fund levy near $0.91, while adding a penny to the special building fund to raise about $3.8 million for construction and growth needs. "We file our budget September 30. So there's 2 different paths in the month of September. We believe we will likely be having the property tax request hearing on September 9 here at Lincoln Public Schools," Standish said.

The nut of Standish's presentation was that the district is managing significant revenue volatility driven by enrollment changes, state aid adjustments and property valuations. She said Lincoln Public Schools' revenue picture is about $557,000,000 and that about 90% of district expenditures fund personnel. "We are about 90% personnel, which means of the dollars that we spend, about…