Surprise surprise, Lincolnites! Mayor Beutler says we're $9.3 million in the hole and we'll need to come up with a mix of budget cuts and tax increases to fill the gap.
Little about this news should have caught you off guard. This is a problem that has been building for years. Mayor Beutler has been brushing it under the rug pretty much since he came into office. Now, however, there's little dispute that we have no choice but to deal with these issues head-on.
The scope of the problem might make you grumble. It's not easy to come up with $9.3 million in a community Lincoln's size, particularly after we've already faced years of cuts. Further cuts would really, really hurt Lincoln's quality of life: park closures; a fire station closure; pool closures; and lots of other gashes in the things we value as a community. Unless somebody comes up with a brilliant plan to increase revenue or to discover large budget cuts that are less destructive, we're in for a tax increase.
Beutler has already said that he plans a "multi-dimensional" solution, which is politicianspeak for a combination of service cuts and tax increases. (A strong leader would actually use those unpleasant words.) The tax increases -- in the form of property tax, presumably -- will be $90 per year or less for the owner of a $150,000 home. Ninety bucks is a hefty jump so expect something less than that. This year.
There will be grumbling and it's hard to disagree. But I know I'm pretty much out of ideas. If you've been sitting on any gems that are actually legal and realistic now's the time to spill the beans. Pretty please!
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See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.
We enjoy great quality of life in this city. Wanna keep it? Pay up.
Don’t wanna pay? Quality goes down.
It’s that simple.
I’m cheap, but I vote to pay. I love this city.
“Ninety bucks is a hefty jump” A subjective opinion that you’re welcome to assert, but have you taken the time to enumerate other price hikes that amount to more than $90/year, sometimes way more; things you probably grumble about but pay for anyhow?
Just a single example: wasn’t that long ago when a good cell phone plan was less than a dollar a day.
Like 10 Libraries that are hardly used. Monies spent on government advertising. etc. Like we really need “conserve water” billboards. My favorite waste of cash ads from our federal government have been on KLIN lately…really…we have to have ads to pay our taxes? Seems obvious. And the silly “lets move” campaign ads. Really? The city needs to learn to live within their means as everyone else has had to do. So it may mean that we don’t have fancy light poles and a new mayor’s office.
I like Southeast Community College…while UNL continues to want more and more and complain about cuts. Southeast has leveraged their existing buildings and seen consistent growth. Government cuts take more courage than just raising taxes. My mother worked for the university and it was stressful at times when they had to make cuts, some employees did not know if they would have a job the next school year.
And when you consider we have one of the highest property taxes in the nation…you have to question if something is not being done effectively.
I forgot to mention…pools. Sell the advertising space on bottom of the pool. Sell ads on the fences. lease out a restaurant/lounge space and make the late night area a place for adults to enjoy.
Lincoln has not been creative in this area at all.
City. City. Federal. Federal. City. LES. City. SEC. UNL. UNL. City/County/LPS/SEC/ESU/RR/AGR/NRD.
Whew. And I thought this was about the city budget.
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