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Record of Proceedings

Hastings City Council Special Meeting on 2026-2027 Budget and Property Tax – September 14, 2026

City Council Special — Monday, September 14, 2026

BodyHastings, Nebraska

SessionCity Council Special

DateMonday, September 14, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 12:47

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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

5:06

And to replicate

Unassigned speaker

5:08

for which it stands.

Unassigned speaker

5:09

One nation.

Unassigned speaker

5:10

Under God.

Speaker 1

5:24

May I have a motion to adopt the current agenda for September 14, 2026 special meeting?

Unassigned speaker

5:29

So

Speaker 1

5:30

move.

5:31

Second.

5:31

Motion by Consbrook.

5:33

Second by Huntley.

Speaker 2

5:37

Larry Consbruck?

5:39

Yes.

5:39

Anderson?

5:40

Yes.

5:41

Brad Consbrook?

5:42

Yes.

5:42

Huntley?

5:43

Yes.

5:44

Esh?

5:44

Yes.

5:45

Rowan?

5:45

Yes.

5:46

Hoffman?

5:47

Yes.

5:47

Fong?

5:48

Yes.

5:48

Motion carries, Mayor.

Speaker 1

5:52

Public notice.

5:54

Official notice of the special meeting was published in the Hastings Tribune on Friday, September 11th, 2026.

6:00

Pursuant to Nebraska Revised Statute Section 84-1412.

6:04

The public is advised that a copy of today's agenda and all reproducible written material, which would be discussed at today's meeting, is available for public review, and a current copy of the Nebraska Opens Meetings Act is accessible to members of the public.

6:19

Let's see, citizens communication for agenda items only.

6:27

Tyler, did I have anybody?

6:31

I don't even know where to look.

6:35

Oh okay.

6:37

And we'll open with the agenda items.

6:51

Would anybody like to come forward and speak for this item?

Speaker 3

7:13

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council.

7:16

Kind of a nice place.

7:24

Got over a hundred people I've talked to.

7:27

Two people decided that uh they were okay with with taxes how they are right now.

7:32

One said she didn't care, the other one said she didn't pay taxes.

7:35

Neither here nor there.

7:37

But over a hundred of them said they don't want to have our taxes raised at all.

7:41

None of them.

7:42

No middle levy increase, no special sales tax, no restaurant tax, nothing.

7:48

They're completely against it.

7:50

A lot of them are saying that they can't afford to continue to pay the taxes that they're paying now because your taxes are their house and home.

7:57

One lady's been in the house for over 50 years, said that she's got to sell her house because she can't afford to pay the taxes on it anymore.

8:03

And another lady I talked to said her kids have been bought houses.

8:07

They're kind of have to get out from underneath them because they can't afford to pay the taxes either.

8:12

We're taxing her says it's way too much.

8:14

If you look uh look on the statistics, Ebbs County is the highest county in Nebraska.

8:19

Nebraska's the fourth highest in the nation for property taxes.

8:24

We need to do something other than just keep raising taxes.

8:26

There's other things to be done.

8:28

I've worked in manufacturing.

8:29

I know it can be done.

8:30

We just have to do it instead of saying yes to everything, you gotta say no.

8:34

Thank

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████57%

Budget Equity Analysis██████████████████23%

Homelessness████████████████20%

Summary of Proceedings

Hastings City Council Special Meeting on 2026-2027 Budget and Property Tax – September 14, 2026

A special meeting of the Hastings City Council was held on September 14, 2026, at 6:00 PM to conduct two public hearings related to the proposed 2026-2027 annual budget and the property tax request for that fiscal year. The meeting lasted approximately seven minutes, with no council deliberation or votes taken on the agenda items. Two members of the public spoke, both opposing tax increases.

Public Comments & Testimony

Edward Krontz (1203 East Night Street) spoke during the public hearing on the proposed 2026-2027 Annual Budget. He reported having spoken with over 100 residents: only two were okay with current taxes (one of whom did not pay taxes), and the rest were completely against any tax increase, including no middle levy increase, special sales tax, or restaurant tax. He highlighted that one resident who had lived in her home for over 50 years can no longer afford property taxes and must sell. He stated that Adams County has the highest property taxes in Nebraska, and Nebraska is the fourth highest in the nation. He urged the council to find alternatives to raising taxes.
Robert Lemke (1016 North Hewitt) spoke during the public hearing to set the property tax request for 2026-2027 at a different amount than the previous year. He opposed increasing taxes, warning against letting the tax rate rise too fast. He mentioned homelessness in the city and urged the council to control spending. He identified himself as a fellow citizen.

Key Outcomes

The two public hearings were opened and closed without any further discussion or action by the council. No motion was made on the budget or tax request. The council adjourned at 6:07 PM, with plans to reconvene at 6:30 PM for the next meeting.

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