Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird will outline her proposed budget for the 2022-2024 fiscal years to the City Council on Monday afternoon. It calls for investments in services and infrastructure to enhance public safety and health, fuel economic growth, provide excellent customer service and protect Lincoln’s high quality of life.
“Our city team responded to the pandemic by quickly mobilizing our community to keep families safe and enable businesses to safely operate,” says Gaylor Baird. “By working together, we made Lincoln one of the safest cities in the country, as well as one of the fastest to rebound economically. The proposed budget includes sound, strategic investments that support our continued efforts to grow a safe and successful city.”
She said those investments can be made while cutting the property tax rate $1.2 million. Mayor Gaylor Baird says that’s possible due to the strong and growing sales tax collections and a growing economy.
She says the $243 million dollar tax supported budget for the coming year represents a 7.4 percent spending increase. In 2024 the budget will increase $9.8 million.
The 2022-24 City budget returns to the two-year cycle that was divided into one-year budgets during 2020 and 2021 to provide additional flexibility for community response during the pandemic. The mayor’s proposed budget would cut the property tax levy to 31.293 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. This equates to $626 in property tax for the owner of a $200,000 home
The proposed budget includes funding for five additional police officers and three civilian employees to help free up uniformed officers for operations. Two additional dispatchers will also be added. Six firefighters/paramedics will be added to bolster emergency response.
Eight new public health nurses will be added to create a community-wide home health visitation initiative to support the health of women and infant One Animal Control Officer will be added to support the 22% increase in pets since 2007.