Lincoln City Council schedules Aug. 3 hearing on proposed FY2026-28 budget

Lincoln City Council has scheduled a public hearing for Aug. 3 on the proposed fiscal year 2026-28 city budget, beginning the principal public-input stage before the council’s planned Aug. 24 adoption of its next two-year municipal spending plan.

The hearing is a scheduled procedural step, not final approval of the budget. The city’s published calendar sets out further council review and amendment dates after the hearing, and the proposed budget remains subject to those steps until an adoption vote occurs.

Budget calendar sets August review steps

The council’s first reading of the budget resolution was scheduled for July 27. The City of Lincoln Finance Department’s budget page, published July 22, lists the 2026-28 Mayor Proposed Budget and related council budget materials.

Under the council calendar, final proposed council changes are due by 3 p.m. Aug. 7. Council members are then scheduled to discuss final changes on Aug. 10 and vote on those changes on Aug. 12.

Aug. 24 is the calendar’s scheduled date for city budget adoption. Those dates distinguish the proposed budget now before the council from a final spending plan: the public hearing, amendment deadline, discussion and amendment vote all precede the planned adoption action.

Tax-rate decisions are on a later track

The budget calendar places the tax-rate process after the August budget schedule. That process is scheduled to begin Sept. 28, followed by a tax-rate hearing and vote planned for Oct. 5.

The available city materials and calendar do not establish whether the later tax-rate action would increase, decrease or maintain a rate. They also do not provide the proposed budget’s total spending, revenue assumptions, department-level allocations or tax impact.

What the hearing means

For residents and others tracking city government decisions, the Aug. 3 hearing is the scheduled opportunity for public input before the council’s Aug. 7 deadline for final proposed changes. The subsequent Aug. 10 discussion and Aug. 12 vote are scheduled council actions on those changes, rather than the final budget-adoption vote.

No vote total or hearing outcome is established by the published schedule. The next confirmed milestones are the Aug. 7, 3 p.m. amendment deadline; the Aug. 10 discussion; the Aug. 12 vote on final changes; and the planned Aug. 24 adoption. The separate tax-rate hearing and vote are scheduled for Oct. 5.