Lincoln Public Schools is proposing no increase in its tax levy for the 2026-27 budget, according to a preliminary budget preview presented to the Lincoln Board of Education Tuesday. The proposed levy would remain at $1.02 per $100 of property valuation, the same rate approved last year after the Board reduced the levy by nearly 8.8 cents to a historic low.
LPS Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs Liz Standish says the district’s budget planning process begins months in advance and focuses on aligning spending with the district’s strategic plan while preparing for changes in revenue.
Despite a projected loss of nearly $3.6 million in State Equalization Aid and more than $2 million in federal grant funding that has expired or is ending, district officials say a projected 4.75 percent increase in property valuations will allow the levy to remain unchanged.
The preliminary revenue budget totals nearly $586 million, while proposed expenditures are set at about $586.4 million, an increase of nearly five percent from the current year. About two-thirds of that increase, roughly $18.5 million, will fund salary and benefit increases already approved through negotiations with employee groups.
Salaries and benefits account for nearly 89 percent of the district’s budget. The proposal also includes funding to maintain counselors and behavior support staff previously paid for with federal grants, additional special education services, expanded early childhood programming, staffing increases to meet student needs, and security upgrades at 31 school buildings.
Finance Committee Chair Annie Mumgaard says community feedback remains an important part of the budget process. The public can submit comments or questions through an online input form at 7:00 Wednesday morning. That same link can be used for a virtual public forum at noon.
An in-person public forum will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Steve Joel District Leadership Center Boardroom. On Thursday evening at 6:00 a virtual public forum will be held. Click here for a link to it.
The Board is expected to continue reviewing the budget throughout the summer before final adoption later this year.