State law requires hearing for 2+ percent budget growth
More than 6,800 pink postcards were mailed out to Hamilton County residents this week noting of proposed property tax increases, part of a new statutory requirement that local officials fear may be confusing to many.
Based on LB 644, which some officials have since dubbed “the postcard bill,” notices were sent out advising local residents that the City of Aurora and both Aurora and Hampton school districts have proposed increases in their respective 2022-23 budgets of more than 2 percent. Under the new legislation, that requires a separate public hearing allowing residents another chance to ask questions and voice their concerns.
“What I did was send out a questionnaire to the city and the schools in Giltner, Hampton and Aurora, and the City of Aurora, to see if they would be over the 2 percent budget (increase) and if so they would need to be on the postcard,” explained Hamilton County Clerk Jill DeMers. “This is the first year we had to do this, so everyone who has a parcel of land where the budget will be over 2 percent higher will get a pink postcard. This just added another layer to the process.”
Part of the confusion, local officials agree, is that preliminary budget hearings were held Monday and Tuesday of this week, though due to this new requirement the levies could not be set, nor could the budgets be formally approved.
DeMers and Hamilton County Assessor Pat Sandberg worked together on the postcard project, with DeMers gathering the information and Sandberg filling out a template to be forwarded to a printing vendor in Lincoln. The postcards were scheduled to be printed late last week and mailed out early this week, all at the cost of the city and schools listed on the cards.
“It’s going to cost about $3,500,” Sandberg reported. “More or less the county will have to pay for that and then the schools, and City of Aurora, will have to reimburse the county for that. That’s how I understand it.”
Though preliminary budget hearings have already been conducted, a second public hearing for the city and two involved school districts has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 26. (See related public hearing notice on Page B6 in this week’s edition.) That will be a combined public hearing, DeMers explained, to be held at Aurora City Hall.
“That was another question, whether the whole board should be there,” DeMers said, noting that full board representation requires a separate meeting notice. “So, what we learned is that they have to have someone there to represent them, whether it be their budget preparer, their superintendent, or whomever would like to be there to talk about their budget.”
DeMers noted that the issue gets even more confusing due to the overlap of area school districts, many of which cross county borders.
“So for me, for example, I live in Hamilton County but I will get a pink postcard saying that the High Plains Community School District went over (2 percent budget growth) and that they are going to have a hearing in Polk County, whenever,” she said.
Completing the necessary paperwork to comply with the new regulation required a combined effort between county clerks and assessors in several surrounding counties.
“We really relied on each other in giving information because you know we have Doniphan-Trumbull, Sutton, High Plains and Heartland, so there are a lot of schools (with patrons and property) in our county,” she said. “We needed to know about them. If they are going to be over 2 percent, they need to be on the postcard.”
“First off, it’s confusing as hell,” Sandberg added. “Because I broadened the tax base so much this year your estimated taxes for the school are actually going to go down a little bit. But that tax difference they show, like in Hampton, just pulling some numbers out of the air, it’s going to go up $5.64. That’s for the school only. That’s not your whole tax bill. Your tax bill could go up $100 or it could go down $10. I don’t know because all the budgets aren’t in yet. The levies are not set. I just don’t think people are going to understand these postcards.”
After the Sept. 26 combined public hearing, the three entities will then have to meet again to approve their final budgets, tax levies and total tax asking.