Omaha Public Schools has landed on an 8.2-cent levy increase as part of its proposed budget for this school year. It’s one way the district is trying to close a $50.6 million state aid shortfall following a miscalculation last year.
Last November, the Nebraska Department of Education said there was a miscalculation in state aid allocations that resulted in three school districts receiving overpayments. Omaha Public Schools received the largest overpayment at $30.5 million.
To address the mistake, NDE is giving Omaha and the two other districts less in state aid. That, along with other reductions, puts Omaha at $50.6 million less this school year in its state aid allotment.
“We thoroughly vetted their recalculation. We’ve talked extensively with [NDE],” Shane Rhian, chief financial officer for OPS, said. “They’ve owned the mistake and owned that it was an error on their part and not something in the data that we submitted to them. They’ve been great partners. It’s put us in an unfortunate position, but we’ve been able to manage through it.”
As the district prepares to get board approval for the budget proposal, OPS leaders have ironed out the details of what the tax levy will be — $1.212 for the total levy at an increase of 8.2 cents. OPS is asking for the maximum general fund levy of $1.05 per $100 valuation as part of that total levy. OPS leaders had previously shared they would likely raise the general tax levy to the maximum.
This means property owners will see a roughly $80 increase per $100,000 of property, if the proposal is passed.
“We know that is going to be a problem for some of our patrons, but it would be an even greater problem for the city of Omaha if we had to cut teachers or close schools because of that loss of state funding,” Rhian said. “We think that with this 8.2-cent levy increase, that will allow us to continue our positive momentum with our moonshot and increasing test scores, and continue to educate the future citizens of Omaha.”
Rhian said the district had cut the levy two years ago by 10.9 cents for the lowest levy in the last 25 years. Now, it will be going up to levels it used to be at.
The district is also planning to zero out the building fund levy request, and it is also taking out about $27 million from reserves in the proposed budget.
Overall, OPS is requesting a $10 million increase in its budget, or 1.18%.
Rhian said that includes increases in staff pay that average about 2.4%, and the district is taking on more of the health insurance costs than it has previously. OPS leaders shared in July that staff, including teachers, would be taking a smaller raise to help combat the reduction in state aid.
Students will feel limited impact, with the main loss being a program providing cellular connectivity for iPad devices at home. Rhian said they will still have Wi-Fi access at school, and there are devices students can check out if they need to finish an assignment at home. He added that a small percentage of students used cellular connectivity at home.
Rhian said the district has worked with the board budget audit committee and held workshops for board members in preparation of the vote later this month.
“While you can never be certain that everyone’s going to vote for the budget, I do believe that we have a strong, responsible budget for the upcoming school year, and certainly anticipate that the board will adopt it,” Rhian said.
The district will participate in a joint public hearing for Douglas County on Wednesday. The budget proposal will go to the OPS Board of Education for a vote on Sept. 21.