Fiscal Year 2025 Budget 101

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Have you wondered how the City's budget process works or how to calculate your property tax assessment? Keep reading!

• The fiscal year is Oct. 1-Sept. 30

The budget process and the subsequent adopted budget serve four purposes: planning, management, fiscal control and communication.

Planning is the first and most critical element of the budget process. The Mayor and Council have the lead role in the planning phase by establishing service levels, directing new programs or projects and setting priorities.

Planning occurs throughout the year, but is the central focus of the Mayor and Council's annual planning retreat. In the planning element, the key concerns of citizens represented by the Mayor and City Council are discussed, and the budget is laid out in respect to those concerns.

Management: is to direct the work of the City departments in conformity with the priorities established by the Mayor and Council.

Fiscal control: is the use of the budget as a tool to measure the City's financial performance. The budget sets the financial road map for the year and provides the basis for evaluating revenue receipts and expenditures for conformity with the financial management plan.

Communication: After final adoption and printing, the budget document is available to the public, serving as a method of communicating to the public the City's annual financial plan and program of service. The City of Hastings budget is heavily reliant on sales taxes to finance general government services and operations. We monitor sales tax proceeds and net taxable sales within the City on a monthly basis.

The current fiscal year budget, as well as budgets for the last 20 years, are available at the Finance Department link at www.cityofhastings.org.

We are fortunate that we, as a community, have much to offer in terms of educational opportunities, health care services, cultural and recreational activities, low crime rate, housing selections and quality municipal services. Recent improvements in municipal facilities have only helped improve the quality of life in our community.

Budget Description

The budget corresponds to the accounting system used by the City. As a municipal government, the City practices fund accounting, which is the generally accepted accounting procedure for local governments. The City budget is made up of individual fund budgets for each of the City's accounting funds. The General Fund is the general operating fund of the City, and accounts for most City services and departments. The Street Fund, the Museum Fund, and the Landfill Fund also finance municipal services.

Property Taxes

The subject of property taxes is of interest to most citizens. In the State of Nebraska, the authority to levy property taxes has been granted by the Legislature to numerous governmental subdivisions.

There are four factors that affect the amount of taxes that each property taxpayer pays. These factors are the tax requirement established by each taxing subdivision, the tax rate and the total assessed valuation of the taxing subdivision, and the assessed valuation of a property owner’s property. The taxing subdivisions listed above have different geographic boundaries, so the total assessed valuation of each taxing subdivision varies. Taxes are paid to the Adams County Treasurer, who distributes the taxes to each taxing subdivision based on the subdivision's tax rate.

How City Property Taxes are Calculated

The calculation of property taxes involves multiple individuals and governmental entities. The actions performed by each are as follows:

1. The Adams County Assessor establishes a value for each parcel of property within the City. These values are summed to calculate the City's total assessed valuation. The total assessed valuation is certified to the City of Hastings. The 2023 total assessed valuation is $1,914,909,666.
2. During the development of the Annual Budget for the City, the City Council determines the City's total tax requirement. This figure is approved with the adoption of the Budget and certified to the Adams County Treasurer. The 2023-2024 total tax requirement is $8,125,766.
3. The City of Hastings tax rate is computed by dividing the total property tax requirement by the total assessed valuation. The tax rate is expressed in cents per $100 of valuation. For 2023-2024, the tax rate computation is $8,125,766 divided by $1,914,909,666 and multiplied by 100, which equals .424342. This is the City’s tax rate.
4. Property owners’ tax bills are prepared by the County Treasurer for all taxing jurisdictions (city, county, schools, etc.) and combined into one property tax bill that is sent to the property owner. The City portion of the tax bill is computed by multiplying the assessed valuation of the individual property by the City tax rate.

How to calculate your property taxes: For 2022, using the example of the assessed $100,000 house, the taxpayer’s total tax bill would be $2,358.84. Of this, the City would receive $424.34 or 17.99%. (There are a very few residences that are located in the Upper Big Blue Natural Resource District whose levy would vary slightly from the majority that are located in the Little Blue Natural Resource District.) The City levy remained unchanged in 2023 at .424342.

The calculation of property taxes involves multiple individuals and governmental entities. The actions performed by each are as follows:
1. The Adams County Assessor establishes a value for each parcel of property within the City. These values are summed to calculate the City's total assessed valuation. The total assessed valuation is certified to the City of Hastings. The 2023 total assessed valuation is $1,914,909,666.

2. During the development of the Annual Budget for the City, the City Council determines the City's total tax requirement. This figure is approved with the adoption of the Budget and certified to the Adams County Treasurer. The 2023-2024 total tax requirement is $8,125,766.

3. The City of Hastings tax rate is computed by dividing the total property tax requirement by the total assessed valuation. The tax rate is expressed in cents per $100 of valuation. For 2023-2024, the tax rate computation is $8,125,766 divided by $1,914,909,666 and multiplied by 100, which equals .424342. This is the City’s tax rate.

4. Property owners’ tax bills are prepared by the County Treasurer for all taxing jurisdictions (city, county, schools, etc.) and combined into one property tax bill that is sent to the property owner. The City portion of the tax bill is computed by multiplying the assessed valuation of the individual property by the City tax rate. For a $100,000 home, the computation would look like this: $100,000 (assessed value of home) x .424342 (tax rate) / 100 = $424.34 (City taxes)

Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Hastings Public Schools District

Adams County $ .332372 per $100 value
Adams County Jail Bonds $ .091084 per $100 value
Agricultural Society $ .017446 per $100 value
Central Community College $ .090272 per $100 value
Educational Service Unit Number 9 $ .015000 per $100 value

City of Hastings $ .424342 per $100 value

Community Redevelopment Authority $ .026000 per $100 value
Hastings Public Schools (School District 18) $ 1.14200 per $100 value
Hastings Public School Bond $ .200000 per $100 value
Little Blue Natural Resources District $ .020321 per $100 value

TOTAL $ 2.358837

Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Adams Central School District
Adams County $ .332372 per $100 value
Adams County Jail Bonds $ .091084 per $100 value
Agricultural Society $ .017446 per $100 value
Central Community College $ .090272 per $100 value
Educational Service Unit Number 9 $ .015000 per $100 value

City of Hastings $ .424342 per $100 value
Community Redevelopment Authority $ .026000 per $100 value
Adams Central Public Schools (School District 90) $ .708894 per $100 value
Adams Central Public Schools Bond $ .075686 per $100 value
Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District $ .022015 per $100 value

TOTAL $ 1.803111