Council approves Downtown Lincoln Association 2026'27 budget and two-year contract renewal

The Lincoln City Council approved the Downtown Lincoln Association's 2026'27 maintenance and management BID budget and a related two-year contract renewal on July 20.

Todd Ogden, executive director of the DLA, told the council the organization aims to grow downtown activation and volunteer programming, citing recent growth in residential and business activity. "We're trying to build that community more than we ever have before," Ogden said, describing a "downtown champions" volunteer program the association launched; he said roughly 600 volunteers had already signed up.

Colin Christopher, with Planning and Development Services, summarized the city's financial role: the city's contribution to the contract will rise roughly 3.2% year to year, which he said equates to about $1,054,000 in the coming fiscal year and about $1,087,000 in the second year, excluding money the DLA collects through property-owner assessments. "If you wanted an actual increase from year to year, in terms of city contributions, that comes out to about $32,000 in the first year," Christopher said, describing the arithmetic behind the percentage increase.

Rosina Paolini, a downtown resident and frequent commenter, spoke in support of the DLA's coordination across sectors and cited visitor and event activity downtown. Councilwoman Washington and Chair Weber both praised the collaboration between the city and DLA; Washington introduced the items and the council approved the budget and the two-year contract renewal on unanimous votes.

The council's approval moves the DLA budget and contract forward for the fiscal year beginning in summer 2026; the contract renewal covers the period 07/31/2026 through 07/31/2028 and does not change the DLA's authority to collect property-owner assessments for BID-funded services.