City of Lincoln to hold steady on 2021 property tax levy

 

[December 18, 2021] 

The property tax bills that the county will send out to Lincoln homeowners in the spring of 2022 will be the levies for 2021.

Each year, in December, local taxing bodies determine the amount of tax they will request. Those numbers, which are dollar figures not percentages, are used by the county to establish the tax bill for each homeowner.

When all the requests from all the taxing bodies are received by the county, they are totaled up and the percentage of the total taxes collected designated to each of those bodies is determined.

In November, the city treasurer reports to the Lincoln City Council the allowable increases the city could make to the levy and makes a recommendation to the aldermen. Aldermen discuss the recommendations and determine their response prior to voting on the topic. The city treasurer publishes a notice of the intent of the city, and schedules a public hearing time and date. The community is invited to attend the public hearing and express their opinions on the determinations made by the city.

This year, Treasurer Chuck Conzo presented facts and figures to aldermen at the November 23rd Committee of the Whole meeting. Conzo explained that the city is permitted to increase their tax levy based on the Consumer Price Index. The CPI is determined by the federal government and the city is permitted to seek increases no more than the CPI for the calendar year.

The city may also request dollars that equal less than the CPI.

In addition, the council has the right to say they will not seek any increase, or will hold steady on the current levy.

The tax levy for 2020, paid in 2021 was $1,666,128. The CPI would have permitted the city to request up to $1,666,128 or a net increase of $23,004. Conzo presented two additional options for aldermen to consider. Option two would increase the levy by $16,431 and option three by $8,216.

After sharing the facts and figures, Conzo recommended that the council not take any increase at all. He suggested that the community has suffered a lot of hardships in the past year and he felt that it would be prudent for the aldermen to take that into consideration and not add to the burden of Lincoln residents at this time.

Aldermen concurred with some saying that it would be nice if the city could actually decrease its levy, but at this time, that would not be financially responsible.

There will be one slight increase in the General Obligation Bond levy for 2021. In 2021 the GO Bond levy for the 2020 year was $177,300. That levy will increase $180 to $177,480 on next year’s tax bill.

When bills arrive in mailboxes next year, the percentage of the total tax that go to the city may actually be smaller than in previous years, but at the same time, homeowners may be paying more on the total bill to the county.
 

There are two reasons for this. First, other taxing bodies may opt for increases. Conzo noted that some school districts have already determined they will seek increases in their levies. The second reason is the assessed values of property. Conzo noted that home values are going up in Lincoln and those values may be reflected in increased assessment values. Therefore, it is unknown what the percentage figure assigned by the county for the city tax levy will be.

Conzo noted that since 1999, the percentage reported on the tax bill as belonging to the city has consistently gone down. In 1999, the city claimed 14.6% of the total tax bill. In contrast, the 2020 percentage figure reported on the tax bill was 11.71%.

On Monday, December 20th, Lincoln aldermen will vote to approve a tax levy of $1,643.124 plus $177,480 for the G.O. Bond, for a total of $1,820,604.

See Conzo's facts and figures on pages 12 and 13 of the November 23rd workshop Agenda - Link

A public hearing will be called at 7 p.m. Monday evening. Anyone wishing to address the council concerning the levy is encouraged to attend the public hearing and speak to the council. Immediately following the public hearing, the city will move to the regular third Monday voting session. The tax levy will be the first item on the agenda after the consent agenda.

[Nila Smith]

See breakdown of property tax levy in Public Hearing Agenda page three - Pdf