The Omaha Public Schools board voted Monday to approve the district’s $1.34 billion budget for the 2025-26 school year, which includes a 2% levy increase tied to increased staffing costs and a larger contingency fund.
The budget includes a $38 million general fund increase, which is the driving factor of the levy increase of 2.2 cents, from $1.107 to $1.13 per $100 of assessed property value.
The new levy would cost the owner of a $200,000 home about $2,260 per year.
The total property tax request in the budget is $409 million, a $28 million — or 7.26% — increase from the 2024-25 budget.
The levy increase follows five years of levy decreases, including a decrease of nearly 11 cents between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 budgets, Shane Rhian, chief financial officer for OPS, said during a budget hearing earlier this month.
Salaries and benefits make up $23 million or over 60% of the proposed increase in the general fund, Rhian said.
The proposed increases in staffing costs include funding retention grants that previously used pandemic-era funding and salary increases to ensure teacher pay remains competitive with other Omaha metro districts, Rhian said.
According to Rhian, salary increases helped attract 1,088 additional staff members over the past year, including 197 more teachers.
“District staff are our most valuable resource,” Rhian said.
Another $10 million of the general fund increase is designated for the district’s contingency fund.
While the district has maintained a contingency fund between $2 million and 5 million over the past several years, a federal funding freeze over the summer threatened $8 million of the district’s funding. While that funding was restored, it showed a need for an increased contingency to address possible funding uncertainties at the federal and state levels, Rhian said.
Rhian noted that most, or all, of the contingency fund will likely not be used and will remain in the district’s general fund reserve.
The budget increase also includes funding for the opening of a new bus facility near Buena Vista High School, which Rhian said will make transportation more efficient by reducing daily mileage for many buses.
Other rising costs the district faces include increased utility and maintenance costs and higher liability insurance premiums, which Rhian said is a trend nationwide.
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Luna Stephens
News Reporter
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