‘Improve their education outcomes’: Omaha Public Schools presents budget recommendations

OMAHA, Neb. —

Despite losing $50 million in state aid, Omaha Public Schools says its budget will increase by $10 million for the next school year. That means taxpayers would be pitching in with a levy increase.

After two years of lower tax levies, the district would be back to the rate it was at three years ago.

OPS is proposing an 8-cent increase. From the district’s perspective, this is back to a level they were at for the majority of the last decade.

“Historically, the district levy has been between $1.21 and $1.25. Two years ago, when we saw a $60 million increase in state aid and special education funding, we were able to lower the levy 11 cents,” said Shane Rhian, the district’s chief financial officer.

With the 8-cent increase proposal, that’s about $80 for every $100,000 of property value. If you own a $250,000 home, your property tax bill would go up $200.

So how did OPS get to this point? The district said last year, the state Department of Education made a mistake when calculating state aid. That led to state aid for OPS being reduced by nearly $51 million for the 2026-27 school year.

“We know no one likes a tax increase. We did not want to do a tax increase, but the way the school funding structure is, we felt compelled to ask our patrons for an increase in the property tax levy because we have to maintain our momentum on our moonshot and continue to serve our students to the best of our ability and improve their education outcomes,” Rhian said.

Property valuations are final in August. There will be public hearings on the final budget proposal in early September. After that, the board of education will officially vote on the 2026-27 budget.

Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.

NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |