Omaha budget hearing turns heated as residents push back on police drones and taxes

OMAHA, Neb. —

The Omaha City Council heard two hours’ worth of testimony on the city’s $1.6 billion budget Tuesday night. The spending plan includes investments in Omaha Police and Omaha Fire, along with local parks.

Residents gathered inside Omaha City Hall to ensure they had a say in the city’s 2027 budget. Many came in support of the budget, like nonprofits who thanked the mayor for including their organization. Others voiced their concerns on issues like property taxes, e-scooters, housing, and transit.

District Four Omaha City Councilman Ron Hug said it’s important to get input from the community the budget serves.

“We’re anxiously awaiting to hear the input from the public. And, we will all take those comments to heart. And, you know, hopefully come with a budget that everybody can support,” Hug said.

Some residents attended the hearing to argue against an increase in the budget for the Omaha Police Department.

“We’re going to spend $28 million more at no officer positions and except worse emergency response goals. Yet we have money for drones, though, and a $16.3 million firearms training, training facility. Those are choices. I oppose expanding police drones because drones don’t keep us safe,” one resident said.

City Council President Danny Begley said the budgets about public safety.

“It’s important to have police officers that are well-trained and well-paid, and that’s what our budget reflects. There’s a lot of great things in the budget as well, but I understand people’s concern about public safety. But when you call 911, you want a well-trained professional officer to be able to respond and protect and serve,” Begley said.

Property taxes were another major topic at the public hearing, with some people urging the city to lower the levy.

“The city continues to increase spending far beyond population growth. Property valuations have risen sharply. So the levy should fall considerably. Yet this budget provides no such relief; blaming schools for property tax is a false distraction,” one resident said.

Now city council members go back to budget discussions.

“There could be amendments to the budget that would take coordination with our staff and the council members to see if they have any efforts on that. And again, we got a couple of weeks to do that,” Hug said.

The City of Omaha is scheduled to vote on adopting the budget on Aug. 25.