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Ex-councilman, CPA agree: Budget crisis is real

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BY DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, Jun 03, 2007 - 12:18:32 am CDT

When Curt Donaldson heard City Council candidates campaigning on promises to close the city’s projected budget gap and “prioritize” city services, he wondered exactly what that meant. In his mind, proposing to close a $9 million budget deficit by “prioritizing” translated to “cannibalizing everything but public safety.”

So the carpenter and former city councilman decided to take a closer look at the municipal budget. He has since spent hundreds of hours analyzing the budget over the past three months. He has a thick budget book in his kitchen and a file full of statistics.

He’s come to a few conclusions: The city’s revenue stream is essentially flat; the $39 million it gets from property taxes isn’t enough to pay for public safety alone, and Lincoln residents are getting a heckuva deal on their city government.

Story Photo
Curt Donaldson

“I’m a supporter and an apologist for government,” he says in his cerebral, halting, carefully measured synopsis of the city pocketbook.

And he has an admission to make: He contributed to Lincoln’s current budget problem. When he was on the City Council from 1993 to 1999, sales tax revenue began flowing into city coffers “amazingly.” After an Interstate interchange was built at 27th Street, the corridor to Superior Street sprang to life. SouthPointe Pavilions opened in the late 1990s. Sales tax revenue was strong, sometimes posting double-digit increases from year to year.

So the City Council and Mayor Mike Johanns gave some of the money back to the people by lowering the city’s property tax rate. The year Donaldson took office, in 1993, the city charged property owners 52 cents for every $100 worth of property value. The city has reduced the property tax rate nearly every year since then, and now charges 28 cents for every $100 in value.

“Politically, it was wonderful because the next year Johanns ran unopposed for mayor. I ran unopposed for City Council. It was like we were walking on water. And he (Johanns) rode that right into the governorship.”

In the early 1990s, sales and property tax revenue were about equal, until sales tax dollars surged ahead. Now, sales tax dollars account for 42 percent of the city’s revenue and property taxes account for 30 percent.

But the days of double-digit sales tax revenue increases are gone. During the past two fiscal years, Lincoln’s sales tax revenue has been virtually flat. So far this year, net sales tax collections have increased less than 1 percent over the last fiscal year. And now that state lawmakers have narrowed the sales tax base, the city is now projecting a decrease in 2006-2007 sales tax collections.

Looking back, Donaldson thinks perhaps he and his colleagues lowered the property tax levy too much in the 1990s and should have better planned for the city’s infrastructure needs. But he says it’s become sacrilege to suggest the city increase its property tax levy to offset the more volatile sales tax revenue source.

“Do I bear some responsibility for this? Yes. Maybe that’s why I’m working so hard on it now.”

Now the Republican is spreading a new gospel in presentations to business groups: Maybe it’s time to raise property taxes.

“Even Ronald Reagan changed his mind about taxes,” he said.

He sees proof in the charts and graphs spread out on his kitchen table: While the city population has increased 25 percent since 1990, the number of tax-funded civilian employees has dropped 4 percent. Only the number of public safety employees has kept pace with the population growth.

And the city takes a smaller percentage of residents’ personal income now than it did in 1990.

Meanwhile, the cost of employees, fuel, goods and services continues to rise. The cost just to maintain current city services in the coming budget will increase an estimated 5.7 percent, which translates to $7.4 million. Add in some expected new costs, and the city needs $9.7 million. But in December, city revenue for the tax budget was projected to grow just .6 percent, barring any tax increase.

It would take a 4.6 percent increase just to pay employees what they’ve been promised in labor agreements.

And therein lies the projected $9 million budget gap — which, by law, city leaders must close this summer.

The newly elected mayor, Chris Beutler, campaigned on a promise not to increase the property tax rate, at least during his first year in office.

“I think he’ll do what he said he’d do, and it will be a budget from hell,” Donaldson said.

If it’s true, as City Budget Officer Steve Hubka has warned, that the council has pretty much exhausted all of the short-term fixes it has used in recent years to balance the budget, then city government will have to shrink this year, assuming a tax increase is off the table, since most of the newly elected council members have made similar no-tax-increase pledges.

Donaldson thinks 50 to 100 city employees would have to be cut in order to avoid a property tax increase.

When Beutler asked Lincoln certified public accountant John Cederberg to help him analyze the city budget, Cederberg figured the projected budget gap was mostly due to conservative revenue projections and the difference between wants and needs. But in the past two weeks, Cederberg — who normally focuses his attention on the state budget — has learned otherwise.

“This is not a made-up crisis,” Cederberg said.

But in past years city leaders have always found relatively painless ways to balance the budget.

“The past is history,” he said.

“I didn’t anticipate that it is as serious and intractable as it is,” he said. “There are no tricks and gimmicks left that will close this budget (gap).”

Being flush with sales tax dollars in the ’90s made it easier for the city to negotiate labor agreements with the unions and expand city services.

“We saved some of that money but we also spent some of that money and baked it into our base,” Cederberg said. The city’s  $84 million tax-supported operating budget in 1996-1997 has grown to a $130 million budget today.

And city leaders have learned it’s a lot easier to lower property taxes than increase them.

“Once that levy goes down, it won’t go up,” Cederberg said. “That’s just a political fact of life in this city. ... Property taxes are the most hated tax we have.”

He thinks the public mistakenly thinks if the city increases its property tax rate 5 percent, their whole property tax bill goes up 5 percent. In reality, the city’s portion of residents’ total property tax bill is small compared to the school district. The school district gets 64 cents of every dollar collected in property taxes in Lincoln, while the city gets 14 cents and county gets 13.

Either people don’t understand that, or they don’t get as worked up about the amount of money Lincoln spends on schools versus city services like police and fire protection.

The city’s property tax rate dropped steadily from Johanns’ administration until Don Wesely’s, and he kept it virtually steady. Only Coleen Seng’s administration increased the levy and then only to fund voter-approved bond issues.

A countywide revaluation of property could have generated an extra $4 million for the city last year, but the City Council lowered its levy so that it used only about $1 million of the windfall.

So like any household or business in a pinch, the city has to figure out ways to either bring in more dough or cut its budget.

Cederberg thinks it’s time for the community to have a “Come to Jesus” discussion about whether to cut city services or pay more in property taxes. He thinks the public needs to be educated about the volatility of relying so heavily upon sales tax revenue to fund the budget.

It would take a lot to convince influential groups such as the Lincoln Independent Business Association to support increasing taxes. LIBA Executive Director Coby Mach instead focuses on city employees’ pay and benefits.

“There are those in the community that are saying we need to raise property taxes to offset the sales tax losses,” Mach said. “I would much rather convince this community to buy in Lincoln.”

He’d like to see the city retirement benefits reduced from a 2-to-1 match to a 1-to-1 match, which he says would save the city $3.3 million. But benefits couldn’t be reduced unless employee unions agreed to reopen negotiations, and what are the odds of that?

Mach figures if layoffs are the alternative, the unions might be willing.

Councilman Dan Marvin said the current budget gap is real and will be tough to close, but he said the $9 million gap assumes $3 million will be spent on capital projects, even though that budget was sliced down to about $600,000 last year. The city spent more on capital outlays back when it was more flush, but has cut back considerably.

But he said the city isn’t on the brink of bankruptcy: Lincoln is one of a handful of cities with a AAA rating from bond rating agencies. The city doesn’t have a lot of debt compared to cities like Omaha. And Lincoln’s property tax levy is significantly lower than Omaha’s. Most Lincoln homeowners pay more for cable TV than for the city’s share of property taxes.

He expects sales tax revenue will pick up again.

“I’m not saying there’s not going to be some kind of pain involved with this budget,” Marvin said.

Donaldson proposes that perhaps Lincolnites would be willing to consider increasing the property tax rate just enough to cover public safety costs. That would cost about $20 million. If not, he fears all other departments will be squeezed to the point where about all the city is left with is “a guns and hoses budget.”

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2542 or dwinter@journalstar.com.


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whatever wrote on June 3, 2007 3:17 am:
" A refreshing article and point of view. It would interesting to see the JS do a series of articles comparing Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney city budgets, growth and development. All three cities have experienced significant growth the past 15 years, how have they handled it? "
Comm UnSense wrote on June 3, 2007 6:53 am:
" Why is the property tax that goes to schools not on the table? Is there no one that can rein in this runaway horse? Someone has got to step up to the plate and do an efficiency study on school spending. Everyone thinks the school district is administration heavy, now we need a way to prove it and get back some of our tax dollars. "
WCG wrote on June 3, 2007 7:22 am:
" An excellent article, detailed and clear. Instead of the "he said, she said" counter-claims of most news articles, this actually explains the situation, including the history that led up to it. Politics has become a mindless rant of "no new taxes." But it's important to remember WHY we pay taxes, and that our tax rate is only one small part of what affects our quality of life in Lincoln. I'm glad to see that Curt Donaldson is still contributing to the city, though he's no longer a councilman. "
So how did we get here wrote on June 3, 2007 8:26 am:
" Let's think about this. Mayor Johanns is a gung-ho supporter of Wal-Mart and all the houses and retail on N. 27th. Houses are built all over the city. Taxes go down and down and down and down. Our previous mayor vetoes Wal-Mart. Builders get mad because of impact fees so now you see their houses in Waverly and Hickman instead of Lincoln. Everyone is told to go to Antelope Valley or 48th & O if you don't like it. I'm sorry, no one is falling all over themselves to race to build in those places, you have to pay them, not the other way around. I understand tax increases on things we need like sewers. Hopefully the new mayor will listen to the people and let them build where they want to build, not try to raise taxes for things we don't need, like trails. Salaries in the city need to be more like the what the rest of us get. Our boss sure didn't give US a 6% raise in salary like the bus drivers got or a 2 for 1 match on OUR 401 K's. "
Hjalmer wrote on June 3, 2007 8:29 am:
" Maybe Lincoln will figure out that it has to start being an engine for change rather than the caboose. Notice the tax cutting mantra under the Republicans has led to the exodus of college grads because we fail to provide decent employment opportunities. You can ride this cut, cut, cut mentality until we wake up and find we've become Mississippi or we can decide to join the 21st Century and grow. That means we're going to have to dump the Republicans broght this after gaining a strangle hold on policy in this state. "
Great Article wrote on June 3, 2007 8:44 am:
" This is a good example of "selfish politics". A politician interested in the good of the people would have looked ahead and planned long term or built up a "reserve" for just such events. But 99% of politicians are more interested in retaining office than serving people, so they politic with the money. Like a family who lives check to mouth, so the City of Lincoln has chosen to live. The shame is, there was never a need for it. Just a need for REAL leadership that would stand up for what was in Lincolnites best interest. "
Rick wrote on June 3, 2007 8:52 am:
" What happened to all the sales tax income that was supposed to be generated when the smoking ban went in. We have seen large amounts of money going outside the city, jobs have been lost, and businesses have closed. So all of the people that voted for smoking ban, this is what you get, the price of a smoke free city, the money must come from someplace and when you cut off one source you must increase from someplace else. "
Douglas Novak wrote on June 3, 2007 8:54 am:
" Nice article. THe bottom line is mismanagement of resources. In ten years the base line budget went from 84 to 130 million. At the same time the average income for the citizens went from ? to ? adn the population increased by ? The article tells 1/2 of the story and leaves the rest to our imagination. Obviously we will conclude that the city council is not smart enough to balance the budget. If we can cut 50-100 jobs today to balance the budget what in the heck are these people doing on the payroll as part of the baseline budget? The next year will be very interesting. Chris Beutler and his friends were the kings of the legislature for supporting bills that obligated future budgets. "
a question wrote on June 3, 2007 8:58 am:
" If we raise the levy does it hold true that we will still get the 14 cents on the dollar? Surely the school administration supports this. "
Brian/QG wrote on June 3, 2007 9:42 am:
" I live in an average priced house in Lincoln, probably valued at $150,000. Of my property tax bill, approx. $480 goes to the city. WAKE UP people...$480/year to get the police dept. services, fire and ambulance service, city parks, miles of wonderful trails, and the streets we drive on throughout the city. This costs me less than $1.50/day to get these services. How can anyone scream that the property taxes are too high? This amount doesn't even cover my cell phone bill for four months, yet I get all the above services in return. Why isn't anyone standing up at school board meetings and demanding accountability in the budget and property tax dollars they get. LPS gets approx. $2400 of my prop. tax bill. I'm glad to see Curt Donaldson taking on this issue and not making it a party line argument. As for Coby Mach, instead of focusing on cutting employees pay & benefits, maybe he and his pretend organization, LIBA, should focus on how to generate more local sales tax thus equating to better business economy. Until he and his few other cronies that drive LIBA are gone, I and many of my coworkers REFUSE to patronize any business that is a member of LIBA. Does it matter? Who knows, but my work earned my paycheck and I have the right to spend it where I want. It won't be spent on businesses that support LIBA and their attack on city workers. "
Single home owner wrote on June 3, 2007 9:44 am:
" I have owned my home in Lincoln since 1984 and have no children. I am now paying $225 per month for property taxes. I would suggest the solution is to adjust the percentage the City receives versus the schools. I simply cannot afford,nor can other single homeowners in Lincoln afford, higher property taxes. I would love to move to a bigger home, but have concluded that the best thing to do is to not spend anymore money in Lincoln and move in a few years to a State where I can buy more home because the taxes are less. "
a little more sense wrote on June 3, 2007 9:55 am:
" Look at the school budget. The cost for being "administration heavy" is not much of the pie. The vast majority of the budget goes to teachers...and what would you have if you got rid of teachers? No school district. What we really need to do raise the city portion of the property tax...at least short term. Then our illustrious mayor needs to figure out how to generate more revenue. "
The best you've got? wrote on June 3, 2007 11:21 am:
" If wages are cut on the cites second biggest employer won’t that have an adverse effect on the sales tax revenue? "
Maggie wrote on June 3, 2007 11:28 am:
" And I keep wondering why no one from the County questions why LIBA is so strongly intertwined with them: included in on their budget discussions, hosting County Commissioners at LIBA functions, and almost always listed on the County's agenda? And now the County looking to merge City & County government into 1 agency - gee, wonder who it really behind that? While Commissioners will argue that it makes sense because do also represent Lincoln in their divisions, it doesn't make sense for a county government to manage our local rights and responsibilities as a city. I strongly support Brian's stand of not supporting companies belonging to LIBA. We also need to remove LIBA from the County Commissioner's work and take the County Commissioner's out of LIBA's back pocket. "
why wrote on June 3, 2007 11:34 am:
" Why are we spending so much on our children’s education just for them to leave us high and dry? "
Biloxi Blues wrote on June 3, 2007 11:35 am:
" Don't worry, you already have become Mississippi. You are 50th in economic development and the 3rd district is number one in farm subsidies. The Omaha school district is segregated. What more do you want? At least Mississippi has an ocean! "
Time for Discussion wrote on June 3, 2007 11:41 am:
" Maybe now IS the time for a discussion about what the schools get. I would like to know what the salaries and benefits of our school administrators are. Everytime someone dares to question the schools budget you are made to feel like you are 'anti-child'. LJS, could you publish the salaries of the school employees/administrators like you did for the City? The tax paying public deserves to know how the majority of their property tax dollar is being spent by LPS. "
tim t wrote on June 3, 2007 12:03 pm:
" I thimk the cuty needs to take a look at how much they spend on new equipment and cars and trucks I live in south lincoln and have seen several pickups pulling mowing trailers that have expensive wheel packages on them that don't meed to be there We need to get back to a time wen we have just bare bone cars and trucks to work with police cars and trucks that have the best package on them Can't the perchacing agent by a fleet of trucks that are both workable and cheep we as tax payers don't need to buy a car or truck for the city with a C D player in it just because we think the employee of the city needs to listen to his or her music or look cool driving to a park to mow the lawn It looks to me like the city has a lot of new equipment that they might need because the old stuff is getting worn out but there is a lot of in the last 3 or 4 years. You can order a new Chevy blazer with out all the chrome wheeels and options cause the auto makers do that for citys and states someone needs to take an audit of city owned vehicles and see just how much we have spent on equipment and vehicles in the last ten years I bet it is more than we think That way good old Curt can feel a little better about him self as fare as money goooooooooos "
ted wrote on June 3, 2007 12:35 pm:
" I keep asking the question why the operating employees of the City earn so much more pay for the same jobs that UNL pays much less for, usually 30% less. And, UNL employees get lower retirement benefits and lower annual raises. Why are the City workers the highest paid in the region? Tell them to either renegotiate their contracts or take big layoffs. Also, go to the Main office of LPS and see how many employees there are actually not teachers. "
Dale wrote on June 3, 2007 1:08 pm:
" Now if the city could stand up to the unions and quit funding city employees with a retirement package on the backs of the rest of us, 2 to 1 match is rediculous. I would love to see LJS run a full front page story on city employees, the wages they earn, the benefits they get, including retirement, paid holidays, sick leave, personal leave etc and let the people of Lincoln that have to pay for this compare their own situation with a "city employee" However, I don't really think anyone in the "local media" has the intestinal fortitude to be able to conceive a story that shows the truth. "
LOVING LINCOLN wrote on June 3, 2007 1:44 pm:
" It's interesting to see the comments and reactions presented today in response to this article. Some point to past city government for tax cuts, others to our school officials for our budget woes. Still others say we still spend too much on our city employees and/or vehicles. The fact is these government officials were all voted in by WHO? That's right the voters, who liked the campaign promises made by those running for various offices making the promise to LOWER taxes. Well taxes have been lowered for several years and now the city is between a rock and a hard spot. Who is complaining? Those who voted for lower taxes. Sounds to me like it's time for business and home owners to realize that city government did their best to keep taxes low and now something needs to be done. Plan on tax increases or clearing your own street of snow, or putting out your own business on fire. City employees expect pay and retirement benefits just like everyone else does and should be compensated for their good work. They should not be the placed in the middle of budget woes. "
Roger wrote on June 3, 2007 5:01 pm:
" The knowledge of forming basic sentence structures, using correct grammar, and spell-checking goes a long ways. I was going to suggest we put LPS in a choke-hold and make them slash their buget, but I may have changed my mind after reading this blog... "
It's a good city.... wrote on June 3, 2007 6:56 pm:
" and don't you always get what you pay for? Lincoln is a low-crime and clean city, and it has A LOT of nice attractions for its citizens. This costs money folks. For the most part, city departments are already stretched really really thin. I hate to pay taxes like anyone else, but the money needs to be there for our city to grow, and for the services like police and fire, parks, etc. to grow with it. You get what you pay for. "
Steve wrote on June 3, 2007 7:04 pm:
" It's great to see an article that doesn't point a finger at either party, especially in today's media. It's apparent that everyone has benefited from property tax cuts that both parties have given or maintained to the citizens of Lincoln. It’s also apparent that taxes will have to go up to maintain our city government and our economic development. I think the hardest part in all of this now comes from the fact we want to blame someone. Our fine schools will probably be in the crosshairs for the blame. I’m not saying they can’t tighter their budget, but the education system in Lincoln is by far and away better than most communities our size. Feel proud of our young people and the education they are offered. "
Josh M wrote on June 3, 2007 7:06 pm:
" I moved from Lincoln about a decade ago, and have moved around the US and Europe with the military. In my experience, Lincolnites enjoy one of the best all around cities in the world. You pay high property taxes, no doubt about it - but you are paying for a service, and you get what you pay for. Lincoln has low crime, and no police corruption to hear of - both a result of well paid officers. Lincoln has a great Fire Dept, a lot of people take that for granted - but believe me, LFD is far above the national average. Lincoln has absolutely unheard of public parks and bike trails, neither are cheap to create or keep in the condition they're in. Lincoln has an unhead of Public libary system - the public libary near my house now doubles as the Social Security office, anybody every been to a Social Security office and tried not to have a sudden spike in blood pressure? Lincoln has a wonderful infrastructure, a very well thought out urban sprawl, a very good relationship with surrounding communities, and a great airport with loads of potential. LPS is far and away better than most private schools we're choosing from in North Florida - and as a result, Lincoln benefits from a well educated public, which translates into the Lincoln we all love (even for people w/o children), and we got exactly what we paid for in property taxes in the 80s, and sales tax in the 90s. Better planning on the part of people in charge of that windfall could have been better, sure - but we hit a speed bump, not a wall. Let's not all forget what we're buying everytime we're handed a reciept at a store, or send out the mortgage payment. Imagine Lincoln with no taxes.... with the constant "elect me, I'll lower taxes" solgan being so successful, imagine all the votes you'd get with "I'll abolish taxes". "
WW wrote on June 3, 2007 7:38 pm:
" Glad to know who this guy is, cause he won't be doing any of my accounting. There are good CPA's and I've see alot of CPAs' sent out to pasture!!! Kinda shows ya who the playboys are in this city! "
Did anyone wrote on June 3, 2007 7:51 pm:
" Did anyone think why sales tax revenue is stagnant? Could it be that people are spending more and more at the gas pump and don't have anything left to spend anywhere else? Gas prices have tripled in the last 10 years and state gas tax has increased proportionately under Gov. Johanns leadership. Johanns may have lowered property taxes but he took that back when he became governor. Johanns raised income taxes when he was governor and took away state funding for schools forcing local governments to raise school levy for funds previously funded by the state. BTW, North 27th development of Walmart and surrounding area was started by the mayor before Johanns, a democrat by the name of Bill Harris. Also, Walmart did not get to build on their first choice of property, north 27th was their 2nd choice. Johanns was also the mayor who started the the Antelope Creek Project that is sucking us dry with taxes to pay for that fiasco. "
Amazed wrote on June 3, 2007 8:15 pm:
" Well so much for trying to hold down spending, now we even have a x council member bad mouthing the way the majority of our citizens feel about spending. Really its a sad day when we need to raise taxes every time we do something. Seems like spending could be controlled, but everyone wants more and everyone thinks their budget needs it worse than others, the new mayor says he will not raise taxes but then everyone says he must. So what is this a justification for him to raise taxes or just another promise not kept. People who run for office have no right to express their desire to keep things lower in cost, unless they actually know for sure that it can be done. So in the future I do not intend to believe any of the campaigns that claim anything, they all tell untrue promises knowing full well they can not keep them. The whole situation with the city budget could be solved, if 100 percent of the people in city hall were to only be paid an amount equal to the average income of the Lincoln resident. Then and only then will their be equity in the cost of city hall. We may not have much but at least we will not be spending more than we can afford on salaries and benefits. Corrections to this situation can only come from the mayor and city council and I DO NOT see that happening anywhere in the near future. So not only do I LOOK forward to higher cost but I totally expect them. and I do not believe our current Mayor and city council really care much. "
? wrote on June 3, 2007 8:54 pm:
" "cannibalizing everything but public safety.”...thats funny, because the city wont hire any new 911 operators and the 911 center runs staffed less than it has in the past. guess people will start complaining when 911 calls go unanswered. "
Thanks wrote on June 3, 2007 8:59 pm:
" - How do you expect to get high quality people to perform a profession and pay them the average wage in Lincoln, when a good percentage of the average wage earners are working retail and fast food - Comparability is comparing the wages of like professions to like professions - This is defined in state law - change the law if you don't like it. Why treat city employees like they did something wrong - Alot of the city workers are working in professions unique to cities. I agree with others, why doesn't LIBA focus on helping their membership be more successful in business. Maybe their membership would raise more sales tax revenue for the city. Our 14 1/2 cents pays for water, sewer, police, fire, health, libraries, parks and more - I'd like to see the city council become non-partisan. The city council spent $5,000 for a second legal opinion on comparability and got the same answer the city attorney gave them - Unfortunately good people who have worked hard for the city will be laid off, people with mortgages, kids in school, people paying taxes in this city - and unfortunately, past councils didn't plan for the future. Turnover is expensive too. "
pat wrote on June 3, 2007 9:09 pm:
" This is another example of how politicians and others, including city administrators and LPS, are making decisions that are short-sighted and selfish. Why is there no one telling them they need to be efficient, in both City Government and the Schools. I work for the Federal Government and we have lived through several different administrations, both Republican and Democrat and have constantly been made to work efficiently. We have told to be like the private sector and "Do More with Less", which is very difficult in healthcare. Apparently, no one in Lincoln is held accountable except the tax payors. "
DJ wrote on June 3, 2007 9:32 pm:
" Just wait til you retire and you wonder where your next dollar comes from. Oh yeah, army retirement, that comes out of my pocket too! I had a neighbor that retired and said they had plenty of money for retirement and a designated retirement home. Suddenly, 4 years latter, they don't have money for house repairs, and golly they're going to have to go to a cheaper retirement place WHEN its absolutely necessary and they can't manager a home & expenses, If homes appreciate very much in Lincoln from what they are now, you'll also be paying $15.00 for a loaf of bread!! I paid double for a lesser house here in Lincoln than the nicer house I had in my former city!! And there were better services there!! "
Whatever wrote on June 3, 2007 10:01 pm:
" What you pay for your city portion of your police, fire, streets, library, and park services are probably less by half what you pay for your cable bill in a year. Most nights I can’t find one thing that is worth spending my time watching. Maybe you should mix in a park or visit your local police or fire station and say hello and thanks for the thank-less job they do. Sorry if my grammar or spelling is poor, I got my education from Lincoln public schrools. Maybe we should look at their budget, I feel as if I have been robbed. "
who benifits? wrote on June 3, 2007 10:11 pm:
" I have a question for you, why would LIBA advocate that the city break contracts with its employees when they chastised EDM so harshly when they broke their contract with the city? Seems as if it’s ok to have double standards when it only benefits LIBA. "
Sales Taxes Flat? wrote on June 3, 2007 10:14 pm:
" No smokers = no cigarette taxes = no surplus to pay for other programs smokers have underwritten all along. How many more years are smokers' taxes going to keep paying over and over sgain for the Devaney Center? The Cigarette Nazi said there would be 'no big effect' because of our health care costs going down. Yah, right. Can't have it both ways folks. Time to pony up for all your clean air mandates out of your own pockets now.. "
Mike wrote on June 3, 2007 10:24 pm:
" Let's talk about all the waste in city and county government. Don't come to me for more money until all of the pork is flushed out of city hall. I see it everyday. Start with LFD and county assessors' office. Funny thing is if parks or LPD asked me for more money I'd give it to them. I would just cut LFD and city hall admin. Stop hitting me with property taxes, there is a reason you are no longer in office. Supporting property tax increases is the fastest way to not serve anymore. I am with some of the other posts. I would buy nicer cars and houses if the taxes where lower but the taxes are just too much as it is. Don't point the finger at LPS, look in the mirror and all of the golden gooses at 555 south 10th street. "
Pez wrote on June 3, 2007 10:46 pm:
" I don't think raising the property taxes is the answer. Getting the Schools on a Budget, putting a freeze on new schools being built, buying used instead of new. If its broken fix it don't buy a new one. Find and eliminate waste in every department. Downsize. If you don't need it don't buy it. This is how those of us who live at the bottom level (me being one of these) live. We have to we simply don't have the budget to do anything different. I live very simply. Our government should too. "
You want fries with that? wrote on June 3, 2007 11:29 pm:
" Where is your support for your budget theory that the budget could be fixed if all City employees got the same wage as the average Lincolnite? I assume you and everyone at your place of business gets paid the same amount, the Lincoln average? The City has a lot of highly paid people with advanced educations (attorneys, engineers, etc) who should get paid the average wage which includes every wage earner in town? Think about if the Mayor was the CEO of a major corporation with 700+ employees. He would sure be getting a lot more than he's making now. He's actually a pretty good bargain for us. And people, suggesting that you won't buy anything in Lincoln again because the property taxes are too high is totally backwards. Like LIBA or not, buying locally helps reduce the need for raising our taxes, rather than helping fund Omaha's City government, which provides considerably less service than we receive at a higher price. "
Not so naive wrote on June 4, 2007 9:44 am:
" We have been told by LIBA, business leaders and government officials that development will provide the residents of this city economic salvation. The choir has preached we will receive more tax revenue if we simply build more homes, shoppping malls, office buildings, etc. We were told growth would pay for itself and add to the fiscal health of our community. Lincoln has seen phenomenal growth during and after Mr. Donaldson's time on the City Council. Still, we aren't reaping any rewards. In fact, our fiscal situation has worsened since the development boom of the 1990s. Where is all the money that the government and business leaders promised us? Maybe the assumption that development leads to economic prosperity for all is just flat wrong. Maybe the only ones who truly benefit from development are the developers and the rest of us are simply being mislead. "
Shawn wrote on June 4, 2007 9:44 am:
" I'm not sure what to think of this seeing as how I don't make enough money to be able to afford to buy a house and pay property taxes, nor do I make enough to be able to spend it on products that contribute to the sales tax. I would gladly do both of these to support Lincolns economy if only someone could tell me how? "
Realistic wrote on June 4, 2007 10:38 am:
" The City has been cutting back for years.... read the article.... Lincoln has grown in the last decade the size of a town like Kearney, and if you read the article, the number of employees has decreased and not increased. Let's start problem solving rather than throwing darts - Who would want to pay more property tax if they didn't have to - but think about the services you've come to appreciate and they will be gone, or less responsive - It's easy to pile on and pile on the negative comments - If you want the Police to respond, you have to pay the wages for the officer, and the gas to fuel a car, you have to provide the car... - and you want the 911 operator to answer promptly and have the equipment to find you when you are unable to speak, or you want your resturants to be sanitary and safe - did you read the recent articles on how many establishments a small number of inspectors have to cover? When the grass grows in the parks, are you going to mow it? We have more and more parkland to maintain. When your children need safe and positive recreational activities, will there be someone there to supervise it? How about those potholes, how long will fewer crews take to fill them.... when you turn on your water, so you want it clean and safe? I could go on and on - The City isn't a factory where you can build a machine to do the job of 10 people. City services are services, not widgets. Do you want people qualified to sell fast food to do these jobs or people willing to work for fast food wages? Turnover is expensive - If a Job is not valued correctly, people leave, and then you are retraining and there are setbacks in service. You get what you pay for. These comments are extrodinary. If the complainers want to leave, go - I for one love my City and have been elsewhere, no curbs and gutters, congested roadways, no decent parks, flooding during storms - water that tasted like it came from a metal pail.... Lets be realistic - Thanks Curt for an excellent article. All these years we relied upon unpredictable sales tax revenues - we saved property taxes - Eventually you have to catch up and prepare for the future. I support the comparison between Lincoln and Omaha - because, you'll see Omaha's property tax base - is higher, and you'll see that Omaha City Employees wage and benefit package is greater than Lincoln's. "
Ben wrote on June 4, 2007 11:33 am:
" Well Mr. Realistic, if we had. more factories and businesses just maybe there would be revenue from these, to the city and state government for services, instead of draining the retireds, and keeping the low wages for the simple jobs. How does a city grow houses, but not businesses??? Lincoln spends way over their budgets, thats why theres a $9million shortfall. Don't give me this song and dance about having to have high taxes in order to have the services Lincoln has. I lived 50 yrs in a city with half Lincolns taxes, and there were more police and fire and schools and librarys and ALL streets and county roads paved!!! The fire trucks, ambulances, fire stations make Lincolns look like toys!!! What my former city has that Lincoln doesn't is factories, businesses and the mayor constantly searches to bring in new businesses and there are jobs for any kind of education you might have. Lincoln leaders has their foot on the throats of the citizens, and theres no desire to EVER try to build a life in Lincoln or Nebraska. Why---- do you think the young ones have left?? I left 50 yrs ago, nothing has changed, it even worse!!!! None of my classmates live in Nebraska!! Doesn't that tell you people ANYTHING???? I'm sick and tired of hearing this "we have to have high taxes if we want our services." "
Point of view wrote on June 4, 2007 12:31 pm:
" After over 40 comments, the opinions seem to be based on point of view. For anybody that has lived in a comparable, or larger sized city - Lincoln is a dream. For the "I've lived in Lincoln my entire life" crowd - taxes are high, LPS and LFD are staffed by crooks and the trails and parks are a waste of money. Anybody that doesn't like Lincoln, move or do more than complain - it's simple. The grass is always greener, trust me - I've been out of Lincoln for 10 years, and can't wait to move home next spring. "
Hey Ben wrote on June 4, 2007 12:35 pm:
" If you moved from Lincoln 50 years ago, how do you know it's gotten worse? Friends told you? They all moved too... Who pays for high quality services if you have very low taxes? It's common sense - give/take - you give taxes, you take services. "
puzzled wrote on June 4, 2007 1:46 pm:
" I have a coupole of questions for the commentators here who are comparing Lincoln unfavorably to their 'former' cities. 1) Why don't you guys name your former cities so the rest of us can make a qualified judgement about whether it's actually a better place to live? 2) Why in the heck did you leave if it was so wonderful? Answer, please... "
A former state former resident wrote on June 4, 2007 2:00 pm:
" Oh dear once again he neglects to mention this paradise on earth so we can look at other comparisons and check his data. Every time anybody does mention these places I generally find they have 2/3 the median income that Lincoln has, twice the unemployment and poverty, higher crime etc etc, but oh gosh they are heaven on earth because you can save fifty bucks a month on property taxes! I'm pretty darn sure Lincoln is NOT paradise on earth and I know property taxes are far from the lowest, but the lack of persepctive these perpetual whiners have and the complete and utter lack of verifiable data they present for their doom and gloom (not to mention the vague and vapid excuses they give for continuing to reside in this hell when presumably the Elysian utopia from which they came has not built walls around its borders and posted armed guards to keep them out just yet) is laughable. Compare income (above national average), housing costs (below national average) and various economic health indicators such as unemployment, poeverty and educational attainment (all much better than national average) before you whine about one line item on your budget. City-data.com is a good resource. I used it when I moved here, so I understood ALL the differences between my former state/city (one of many) and this place. If you didn't then why blame anyone else for your stupid lack of preparation? If you did and still decided to move here then why blame anyone else for your poor decision? "
Easy Shawn wrote on June 4, 2007 2:02 pm:
" How do you get to spend money on property taxes and sales taxes? Real simple! Take advantage of Lincoln's sub 3% unemployment and get a job. "
George wrote on June 4, 2007 2:16 pm:
" What drives me crazy is if I moved to Eagle or Ashland right outside of the county I could still enjoy all Lincoln and Lancaster County, without the monster property tax and city sales tax on cars. Curt, Chris you want to close the budget gap. Start with this crazy idea. Someone calls 911 for medical help. Just send an ambulance, not a fire truck full of firefighters who are double paid as EMT’s. Just think an ambulance with two EMT’s costs X. Then the stupid city also sends another fire truck with two firefighters, two more double firefighters/EMT’s and fire captain EMT. "
Whoooo wrote on June 4, 2007 3:28 pm:
" The "Former state former resident" doesn't quite know everything. Unfortunately I had to move back to care for the overtaxed relative, which with an MBA degree made alot less than I did. I had to pay $100,000 more in Lincoln for a lesser house that I had, and my former property taxes wered $910.00 and here for this lesser house they are $4,100.00. And furthermore, the former city/state has better services and bigger schools and grows and theres not all this bitterness and hatefullness like in Lincoln!! "
omnione wrote on June 4, 2007 3:42 pm:
" To "puzzled" and to "a former state former resident", amen! I'm Buddhist so I mean that in a figurative sense, but a-freaking-men. "
Glad to be gone wrote on June 4, 2007 4:06 pm:
" There are 2 reasons why I left: 1. No job opportunities (I am not a career fast food professional). 2. Outrageous cost of living. Gas is $2.79 here. My property tax bill is about $1100. People here laugh when I tell them how much I used to pay in property tax. Until Lincoln focuses on economic growth, which will only happen through economically friendly tax, zoning, and development policies, Lincoln will be in this budget mess for many years to come. The current business and population base cannot continue to support the infrastructure a city this size needs. The economic opportunity, school system, roads, and crime rate is just as good, if not better, than Lincoln's. And I'm even in Mississippi! "
puzzled wrote on June 4, 2007 5:01 pm:
" Still no former city names... "
City names... wrote on June 4, 2007 5:38 pm:
" Yeap - still nobody willing to tell us which hill has the greenest grass... ANYBODY? Here's a few I wouldn't live in (again) if they paid me - Hampton VA and the Hampton Roads area, and Jacksonville Florida - wow... two of the largest cess pools I've every seen. I'll be back in Lincoln in 287 days, as soon as the military lets me... "
reality wrote on June 4, 2007 6:08 pm:
" Here's the cities they are crowing about: Faketown, Iowa Fictionville, Kansas Bumfrick, Alaska Desertville, New Mexico and my favorite, Liarston, Texas "
Glad to be gone wrote on June 4, 2007 7:20 pm:
" You guys want names? Here ya go....Jackson, Mississippi. America's best kept secret. "
Yeah right. wrote on June 4, 2007 7:49 pm:
" And once again why should we cry for you wooh when you could have used all that extra money and lower taxes you had in your still unnmaed former town to move that overtaxed relative? Even a private ambulance with EMTs would cost less than $100K plus 3K a year in property taxes surely....? And what a strange claim someone makes about Mississippi (notice no town though). There are such things as easily comparable statistics on quality of life, income, and cost of living, and I'll bet $100 right now nobody can come up with a place in MS that wins out on a majority of them. Let's compare educational attainment, median income, crime and poverty rates, graduation rates of the schools, matriculation into higher education, anything like that..... Just let me know where it is, prove it with links to reputable third party data and email me an address in that zip code to nowehereinMS@yahoo.com (trust me it's a real address and I'll respond) to send your check to. Otherwise we'll take it as read that it's worthless whining yet again. "
Well, wrote on June 4, 2007 8:59 pm:
" Jackson does have lower property taxes, on average, by quite a bit. The really odd thing about Jackson is their city government collects $60 million in property taxes as opposed to Lincoln's $39 million. (huh?) The salaries in Jackson city government total $84 million compared to Lincoln's $72 million. (Jackson population 184,000 vs. Lincoln's 2000 census of 225,000) Lincoln's average wage is over $14,000 more. Jackson had 38 murders in 2006...Lincoln only 4. Poverty is terrible in Jackson vs. Lincoln...26% vs. 12%. Median house...$79,000 in Jackson vs. Lincoln's $131,000. Looks like there's good and bad for both cities (probably the same for every city in the US). All data is from city-data.com ... check it out, it's nothing but facts. "
No way wrote on June 4, 2007 9:34 pm:
" Who would want to name any city/state names for fear these creepy commenters might move there and ruin it like apparently they have Lincoln. I'd say find out for your selfs or have fun paying your Lincoln huge property taxes. "
Drake wrote on June 4, 2007 9:36 pm:
" "Jackson, Mississippi." This were we put down the torches and pitchforks and pitifully walk home because it's not a fair fight to retaliate against a mentally challenged individual. "
whatever wrote on June 4, 2007 9:57 pm:
" Lincoln is not the WORST city in the country, but if you lived in Lincoln say 25 or even 10 years ago, to think the quality of life is better is insane. City Services? You have less upkeep of parks and pools, less bus service, a less responsive police and fire department, poorer ambulance service to name a few. Infrastructure, I'm sorry I know a lot of you think the roads are great in Lincoln, but compared to 20 years ago they are just crap. Sidewalks are in disrepair and they will never be repaired completely in any of our lifetimes, EVER. Sewers and water, just watch the bond issues flow because Johannes and the city council didn't make the upgrades that needed to be made 15 yeras ago. Employment? There certainly are some better white collar jobs, but blue collar jobs? You have lost much of Square D, Cushman is gone, most of Goodyear is gone, American Signature is gone to name just a few VERY GOOD paying jobs and they simply have NOT been replaced with anything remotely comparable. Where is Gallup? Let's talk education. You have 2 additional High Schools but fewer students than in 1970 with a population at least 40 percent bigger in the city. Why? Sure some of it is due to federal mandates, but are our teachers and students that much more inefficient? What about ACT scores compared to 20 to 25 years ago. UNL? Fewer students with less disposable income graduating with ungodly debt, much more so than 25 years ago. Leadership? Lincoln hasn't been properly led at any level for at least 15 years. Yes, Lincoln is better than MANY cities, and if you have lived in Lincoln less than 10 years you may not notice the decline in the city, but ask anyone that has lived in Lincoln 20 or more years and Lincoln is not the city it once was and that is why you see a lot of disagreement on the quality of life in Lincoln. If you want a quality city it needs to be paid for, but the caretakers of that money need to be more ethical in how the money is handled, and they need to step up to the plate and be men and women and make the tough decisions when needed. Developers too need to be ethical and instead of just demanding to build where they see fit and pay for what they think is just, need to take a step back and think of how they want their city to look 30 or 40 years out. The developers need to be men and women too and do the right thing instead of the expedient thing. Lincoln at one time had leaders and developers that thought that way, I don't think you could fill a phone booth with people like that anymore. "
Jethro wrote on June 4, 2007 11:38 pm:
" Jackson, MS. Well pack my bags, cuz I'm headed to the poorest state in the country. "
Amazed wrote on June 5, 2007 6:40 am:
" Its' to the point of no return, when the city matches the employees 401k with 2 to 1 then the entire system gets way out of control, no other business does this, so why does the city insist it needs to do this. Stop the match entirely and/or do away with the benefit package entirely and you will save a bunch. Elemination of the entire class or the entire amount from all city employees would benefit the city and the workers would then be on an equal par with most workers in the city. "
Da-di-doo-doo-doo-doodo-doo-di-doo wrote on June 5, 2007 11:49 am:
" Watch out for that ten times higher murder rate, double poverty, triple unemployment, 15% longer commute, double dropout rate, and lowest ACT scores in the nation while earning $14K less a year! But hey $100 a month less in property taxes makes all that OK don't it, y'all? "
Shawn wrote on June 5, 2007 11:57 am:
" No Way!! Get a job?? Thanks for the overly intelligent advice, but I've worked for the same company here in Lincoln for 4 yrs as well as the National Guard and I still have $15 in my bank account when I'm done paying bills. I appreciate your assumption that I'm a loser though. That's classy. "
jmk wrote on June 5, 2007 1:09 pm:
" I work ina retail store and you should see the way the school people waste money. At the end of the year, they come in and tell me they have a few thousand dollars they HAVE to spend so they will get more next year. Then they buy just any junk they can to spend the money, chairs they don't need or use, computers and accessories.All so they can have a bigger budget the next year. I say if they have some left, pitch it in for the next year and save us some money. "
T wrote on June 5, 2007 1:14 pm:
" I have lived in other cities. Ft Collins and Loveland COLO. Their taxes are lower, the crime rate is lower, the streets are better (and it doesn't take the whole summer to do a street) the schools have a great grade point average. AND they have mountains. In a few years, after personal obligations have been taken care of, We will be moving back there. My brother has a simular house in sq. ft. It sold at twice what I paid for our house and yet the taxes are half of mine. So i have been there and yes our taxes are too high "
soo..... wrote on June 5, 2007 2:16 pm:
" You want to pay twice as much for the house to save 50% on the property taxes? Am I getting that right- you think that's a better deal? I agree Ft Collins looks like a nice place to live according to the data. It's a little high on poverty percentage for such a procy area and has higher unemployment than I'd like, but not bad at all - but then if you have to pay twice as much for the same sq footage that's a bit of a high price to pay IMO. San Diego would be a great place to live too, but my upper-end home in Lincoln wouldn't even buy a 1BR condo anywhere but the ghetto there, and would only buy a much more modest house in Ft Collins. When median home price is $90000 more and median property taxes are $1000 less it takes a hell of a long time living there and saving to pay for the extra in home cost! Like when I moved here - my mortgage went down $600 a month (not all of that $600 is deductible) for a very comparable home and my property taxes went up $250 a month (ALL of that $250 is deductible). Personally I call that a lower cost of living, but hey if you want to downsize a bit anyway yep that might be a nice choice of location. "
Tough! wrote on June 5, 2007 2:43 pm:
" Well Shawn here's more caring and intelligent advice then - get a better job or reduce your expenses because you can do much better than that I guarantee. If you are working full time for minimum wage even you'd make $893 a month - and shame on you if you are still making minimum wage after 4 years so you are probably much better off than that. No income tax likely at that level - in fact you'd get rebates but let's be stingy and not include them. Take off 7.65% for SS and Medicare taxes and you have a minimum of $824 net income per month. Even if you can't get a roommate I can find several furnished heat/water and even cable paid apts under $400, leaving you with a minimum of $424 a month. Any number of cars can be found for a few hundred bucks which will cost you maybe $25 a month to insure and say 1000 miles/20mpg =50gallons=$150 a month so we're still at $250 a month left over even if you can't do with a bus pass or a bike. With all this worst case scenario surely a single guy can live on $30 a week for food - bread, spread, cereal, pasta, noodles, some veggies and some sauce. I've done it. Still have $130 a month left over ecven with a car, a place of your own with no sharing, and absolutely worst case income. No doubt you can do much better with 4 years experience and some NG income. Now if you went and knocked up some girl yep you're SOL but don't ask for sympathy then. Same if you insist on partying or smoking or fancy food or wheels at that income bracket. But dont cry and tell people you can't have more than $15 left over unless you have made some stupid decisions. Oh and even then you'd STILL be contributing to taxes with your grocery purchases and the portion of rent your landlord charges to cover their property taxes - so don't worry the state will get its share from your earnings however low they may be, "
t wrote on June 5, 2007 3:27 pm:
" my point was a house of twice the value has only half the taxes. not that I want to pay that much more for a house. It was a comparison to show how their lower taxes hasn't hurt their quality of living. AND they have mountains "
Bart wrote on June 5, 2007 5:50 pm:
" Funny you should mention, Ft Collins is facing a major budget shortfall this year due to slumping sales tax revenues. They have a 3% city sales tax compared to Lincoln's 1.5%. Sounds like if Lincoln doubled it's sales tax, property tax would be next to nill. You are paying for it either way. But one bad sales year all the sudden the budget is blown to hell. Property taxes make up for that instability. "
Sue wrote on June 5, 2007 5:58 pm:
" My goodness - Lincoln is evil - why don't you all leave. I will never understand the "I hate this place so much" attitude and then staying here. Leave for heaven's sake - no one is holding a gun to your head. "
I have to admit.. wrote on June 5, 2007 6:30 pm:
" ..anyone reading this (or most of the other blogs in the paper) NOT from Lincoln must wonder what kind of morons live here. I am continually embarrassed by what I read. Does no one have anything to do but complain? Let's see, the taxes are too high, so we'd better cut jobs or benefits for city employees.... My city portion of property taxes for last year was $400. $400 for the services you people are getting from the city? Are these the same people complaining about "having" to pay over $200 MONTHLY for cable service, or happy to pay $200 MONTHLY so you, your spouse and child can each have a cell phone? My monthly cost for the city property tax is $33 DOLLARS A MONTH!! That's the price for one tank of gas, and you think it's too much to run a city? "
George wrote on June 5, 2007 10:52 pm:
" I pay $18 per month for cable and $500 per month in property taxes. That $500 per month is the biggest single monthly expense I have. More than food, income tax, clothes, car stuff, you name it. Stop raising our property taxes. Find the money or cuts some other way. "
taxpayer joe wrote on June 5, 2007 10:52 pm:
" Eliminate the 2 to 1 retirement match and see if any city employees quit. City employees except for public saftey personal are not essential let them go!!! Start over with half the staff and fewer benfits its not like there is a huge shortage of people smart enough to do these city jobs. There is no reason this city needs to employ so many engineers "

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