Determining a Budget

Each year, the Board of Directors of the Papio-Missouri River NRD reviews all NRD program and project activities and determines a budget necessary to carry out our mission. NRDs in Nebraska possess limited taxing authority, generally amounting to less than two percent of property taxes collected.

Fiscal Year 2016 Budget

At its September 10, 2015 meeting, the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District Board of Directors voted to adopt a fiscal year 2016 general operating budget that will require a slight increase in the NRD tax levy while total NRD spending will decrease.      “We’ve reduced and/or held our tax levy constant for nearly ten years,” said NRD General Manager John Winkler. “There is so much work to be done to protect residents from potentially devastating flood events and, so little time to get the job accomplished,” he said.

“We have a number of vital projects that need to be built for flood control throughout our six-county region while we continue to place emphasis on projects to protect water quality in our lakes and streams, construct extremely popular recreational trails and water-based recreation areas, and provide cost sharing to rural landowners on a variety of soil and water conservation projects and wildlife enhancement,” he said.

The proposed budget calls for a Fiscal Year 2016 property tax levy of .038034. The Fiscal Year 2015 levy was .032753. The new levy would mean that the owner of property valued at $100,000 would pay a total of $38.03 in property taxes next year to support NRD projects. Owners of property valued at $100,000 paid a total of $32.75 last fiscal year.

“The Papillion Creek Watershed is developing rapidly and many of the sites chosen for viable flood control reservoirs and water quality structures will soon be developed for housing if we fail to act now and secure the required acres,” said Winkler. “We’ve been contacted by many landowners wanting to sell us the needed land, but we haven’t had the resources to address the overwhelming need,” he added.

The levy is based on an estimated 4.95 percent average increase in valuations across the district. The Papio-Missouri River NRD area includes all of Sarpy, Douglas, Washington and Dakota Counties plus the eastern 60% of Burt and Thurston Counties.

The budget calls for an estimated $21.9 million in revenue from the NRD’s property tax levy. Total spending is estimated at $71.8 million.  Total NRD spending will decrease nearly $12 million under the proposed budget. Other revenue includes bonds and income from Improvement Project Areas. “One of the NRD’s strengths is our ability to leverage federal and state cost sharing on projects such as the Western Sarpy/Clear Creek Levee on the Platte River and improvements to Missouri River levees south of Bellevue,” said Winkler. “These federal and state cost sharing efforts save local taxpayers millions of dollars,” he said.

Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Fact Sheets

For more information on our NRD’s budget please contact papadmin@papionrd.org or call 402-444-6222.