After city wide mailings in Milford and Seward and promotion of the event by its county hosts, 38 residents signed into the state-required “Pink Postcard Hearing” in Seward Sept. 23.
Nebraska law requires participation in the hearing by any taxing entity increasing its property tax request by more than an “allowable growth%age” a%age based on its previous budget and area growth and varies by entity.
This year, Seward City Administrator Greg Butcher and Milford Mayor Patrick Kelley briefly presented about their cities’ budget and tax asking. Two audience members commented after the presentation, and the whole thing was done in about 30 minutes.
But the hearing allowed both entities to complete their 2024-2025 budget process and both city councils met Sept. 24 to give final approval to their budgets and property tax revenues and advance them to the Seward County Board of Examiners (comprised of the Seward County Commissioners) to meet state deadlines.
Seward’s council approved a request of $2,155,604 from tax funds, up $149,138 or 7.4% over last year’s $2,006,456.
Milford’s council approved a request of $777,074 from tax funds, up 50,839 or 7.0% over last year’s $726,235.
Seward County Clerk Sherry Schweitzer, who is mandated to organize and host the hearing, said this year’s hearing “went pretty smoothly.”
Last year about 100 people attended to hear information from five taxing entities.
The pink postcard hearing law passed in 2021 and amended in 2022 and 2023 requires the county clerk to send a pink postcard of a prescribed size, on a prescribed date to the residents in each of the subdivisions summoned to the hearing.
The law prescribes the information included for each taxpayer outlining parcel information, assessment value for this and the previous year, and the tax asking for the identified political subdivisions for this and the previous year and what the difference will be – for that political subdivision only – in dollars and cents.
