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Omaha Public Schools warns of $50.6 million state-aid loss and proposes levy increase to balance budget
Summary
Omaha Public Schools CFO Shane Ryan told a community meeting the district will lose $50,600,000 in state aid because of a Nebraska Department of Education calculation error and proposed a levy increase plus reserve use and spending changes to balance an $860 million budget.
Shane Ryan, chief financial officer for Omaha Public Schools, told attendees at a community budget update that the district will lose $50,600,000 in state aid because of a miscalculation by the Nebraska Department of Education and is proposing adjustments to property-tax levies and reserves to balance the coming year.
"We are going to lose $50,600,000 of state aid due to an error made by NDE," Ryan said, attributing the shortfall to a change in an internal report the department did not account for when calculating the TEOSA state-aid formula.
The district presented a revenue budget that rises from $850 million to $860 million, with property-tax receipts shown increasing from $333 million to $395 million and state aid falling from $340.2 million to $289.6 million. Ryan said the district will use about $27,500,000 of its general-fund reserve to help balance the budget.
Ryan said the district is proposing a levy described in the presentation as "1 dollar and 21.2 cents," an increase he said would offset the lost state aid; the presentation also noted that $1.05 of the levy (the statutory maximum) would go to the general fund to pay teachers, buy curriculum and operate buildings. Ryan said the building-fund levy would be reduced (shown in the presentation as moving from 3'to 0 cents), the bond levy would fall slightly, and a Qualified Capital Purpose Undertaking Fund would continue to cover certain bond obligations.
"We are asking our patrons to help continue and increase their support of our students," Ryan said, adding the district aims to remain within statutory levy limits and is not requesting a public levy-override vote.
On the expense side, Ryan said the largest increase is for salaries and benefits (about $16,500,000, roughly 2.5%), and that roughly 82% of the general fund goes to staff salaries and benefits. The district presented savings and offsets including a $6,600,000 estimated reduction from ending universal cellular data plans for students and a $3,800,000 contingency reduction because certain federal Title program funding is now certain.
Ryan said the state auditor found the error, NDE corrected it, and he expressed confidence the mistake would not recur: "we have a very high degree of confidence that this mistake will not happen again." He added the district works regularly with state legislators and participates in the school finance review commission on formula discussions.
Ryan encouraged continued local support for schools and said the presentation will be posted to the district's YouTube channel. The proposal as presented will move next through district budget procedures and any formal board actions required under state law.
