Omaha City Council to vote on 2027 budget and capital plan

Several resolutions would revise the Mayor’s Recommended 2027 Budget, originally presented July 21, 2026, by moving funds from Other Budgetary Accounts Misc-Contingency Liability Expense to specific parks and community service programs. Individual items propose increases of $25,000.00 each for the Omaha Parks Foundation and Aksarben Curling Club; $50,000.00 for Heartland Hope Mission; $30,000.00 for the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, $15,000.00 for Youth Emergency Services, and $5,000.00 for the Omaha Irish Cultural Center; $38,430.00 for the Nebraska Center for Workforce Development, $10,000.00 for Mount Vernon Gardens Park maintenance, and $1,570.00 for sign maintenance in Public Works – Traffic Engineering; and $19,500.00 for Parks & Facilities (Business Improvements Districts and Dreamland Park) along with various community service programs including B&B Sports Academy, North Omaha Music and Arts, Georgia's House of Hope, Blue Bucket Project, and Native Omaha Days.

Additional proposed reallocations include $10,000.00 to the Nebraska Lawyers Foundation–Douglas County Self-Help Legal Center and $40,000.00 for a Rambleridge Subdivision feasibility study within Parks – Park Administration; and $30,000.00 for Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital and $20,000.00 for the Wolf Pack Sports Foundation. Another resolution would shift $40,000.00 from Other Budgetary Accounts Misc-Community Service Programs (One Omaha) to increase funding for the Food Bank of the Heartland by the same amount. Each of these budget changes is scheduled for public hearing and a vote on August 25, 2026.

The council will also consider a resolution to decrease General Fund property tax revenues by $4,368,417.00 while increasing sales tax revenues by $4,368,417.00, described as a decrease to the General Fund property tax mill levy and an increase in General Fund sales tax revenue. This item requires the affirmative vote of five councilmembers. Following action on the individual revisions, the council is set to vote on adopting the overall 2027 City of Omaha Budget and is also scheduled to vote on approval of the 2027–2032 Capital Improvement Program.

On the consent agenda, the council is slated to take third reading votes on ordinances including a purchase order to Summit Fire Protection in an estimated annual amount of $208,590.00 for fire prevention services; a redevelopment and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement authorizing up to $1,133,705.00 in excess ad valorem taxes for the 2211 Douglas Street Senior Housing project; and a 25-year park and recreation lease with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for continued use of Standing Bear Lake (Papio Creek Tributaries, Dam Site No. 16), with a lease term from June 1, 2026, through May 31, 2051, and a payment of $2,550.00 from the General Fund.

The agenda lists multiple contracts and infrastructure items for consent resolution approval, including $10,170,264.00 for the Compost Relocation - Phase 2 Project, $5,680,000.00 for Fire Station #70, $239,327.60 in additional work on the Forest Lawn Creek Inflow Removal and Outfall Storm Sewer Project, and $170,140.00 for concrete speed bumps at various locations. Other items include a replacement bullet trap for the 25-yard shooting range at the Omaha Public Safety and Training Center, Center Street safety improvements engineering agreements, improvements along Blue Heron Parkway in S.I.D. #617 – Majestic 178, and the purchase of three 2026 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs and two 2026 Ford Maverick XL trucks for the Omaha Police Department at a total cost of $152,251.00.

Development and land-use questions also appear on the agenda. The council is scheduled for a public hearing and vote on the Drury Plaza Hotel Redevelopment Plan for 501 South 10th Street, which proposes a new eight-story, 210-room hotel with structured parking, meeting space, a fitness center, an indoor pool, and a third-party-operated restaurant concept as an Enhanced Employment Area supported by a general business occupation tax of up to $7,550,000.00. The Planning Board and Planning Department recommend denial, while the agenda notes communications filed in support and in opposition. A related Tax Increment Financing plan for the 2501 Center affordable housing redevelopment, previously postponed, is also listed along with a request from the applicant to postpone the item again.

Other public-safety-related ordinances on second reading with hearings on August 25, 2026, would authorize Homeland Security and Justice Assistance grants, including a $174,415.00 FY 2025 State Homeland Security Grant (Award #EMW-2025-SS-05042) and a $438,913.00 FY 2025 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Award #15PBJA-25-GG-03524-JAGX). The council is also scheduled to consider a Nebraska Crime Commission STOP Violence Against Women (VAWA) grant award of $269,671.00 with $72,557.00 in matching funds, and an interlocal agreement with Saunders County governing the distribution of keno lottery proceeds.

The agenda further sets first readings for a series of agreements with Omaha Public Schools, Elkhorn Public Schools, Millard School District, and Westside Community Schools for uniformed School Resource Officers and Associate School Resource Officers and related reimbursement terms for the 2026–2027 school year, as well as ordinances concerning the Central Library gift and lease agreements and a real estate purchase and sale agreement with Builders District III, LLC for city-owned property between 16th and 17th Streets and Mike Fahey and Cass Streets, to be sold for $7,820,000.00. The council is also scheduled to consider going into executive session to discuss labor negotiations, personnel matters, and litigation.

This brief was generated from a public document. Source: https://cityclerk.cityofomaha.org/wp-content/uploads/images/2026-08-25a3.pdf