By Allison Peck
Listen to the full interview on our Kubota Podcast
North Platte City Council is heading into budget season with a preliminary plan to lower the city's levy, while a separate utility rate study is recommending gradual increases to electric, water and wastewater rates over the next five years.
Mayor Brandon Kelliher joined the North Platte Post Wednesday morning to recap Tuesday night's council meeting.
The council approved the preliminary levy allocation for the North Platte Airport Authority, which Kelliher said is an annual part of the city's budget process.
“From the budget perspective, the airport authority's budget has to be approved by the city council,” Kelliher said. “We don't set the budget. The airport authority works through that process with the airport manager.”
The airport's financial request will increase slightly, largely because of bond payments associated with the new terminal, but Kelliher said the airport's levy is expected to decrease by about 2%.
When the airport and city levies are combined, the preliminary plan calls for the levy to decrease by approximately 1.5 cents.
“I say about because it can vary into the hundreds,” Kelliher said. “It might be slightly more and it might be slightly less.”
For property taxpayers, Kelliher said the airport portion of their property tax bill should decrease by about 2%.
The city will begin its own budget process Monday with its first work session.
That budget discussion comes as the city is also looking at its long-term utility costs.
Before Tuesday night's council meeting, members held a work session on a formal Municipal Light and Water rate study. The study examines the cost of providing electric, water and wastewater services, compares North Platte's rates with other Nebraska communities and looks ahead at planned infrastructure needs.
Kelliher said the city's goal is to remain competitive while avoiding large, sudden rate increases.
“What you want to do is move it up just a little bit over time,” he said.
The current recommendation calls for a roughly 6% increase in electric rates, along with similar increases for water and wastewater over the next five years.
For an average North Platte household, Kelliher said that would work out to approximately $9.50 more per month.
The city's electric rates are also affected by what it pays Nebraska Public Power District for electricity.
Kelliher said NPPD went about eight years without increasing rates before implementing an increase a couple of years ago. NPPD is now investing in additional power generation across Nebraska, which will require additional funding.
“As they do that, they have to have a way to pay for the bonds,” Kelliher said. “And so they will have to increase their power rate, which will then transfer to all their customers in one form or another.”
Kelliher said North Platte's goal is to keep its rates around the middle of the range compared with other Nebraska communities.
The rate study also looked at the city's aging infrastructure, particularly water lines.
Kelliher said North Platte has water mains that are approaching 100 years old, and the city is beginning to take a more proactive approach to replacing them.
Rather than repeatedly repairing individual breaks along an aging section of pipe, the city wants to replace larger sections before they fail.
“We're going to go through where we've identified we have 100-year-old water lines, or near 100-year-old water lines, and start replacing them proactively rather than waiting for them to break,” Kelliher said.
He pointed to portions of East E Street as an example of what the city is trying to avoid, where sections of older water line have required repeated repairs.
“It would be far more cost effective to just replace that whole chunk,” he said.
The same philosophy is being applied to the city's electrical infrastructure.
The council approved a $334,849 contract with TL Sund Construction of Lexington for an addition to the city's electrical utilities building.
Kelliher said the expansion will primarily provide additional warehouse space for electrical equipment as the city grows.
“As electrical devices have become more and more expensive, we try to keep more of them on hand as our community expands,” he said.
That includes transformers and other equipment that can take years to obtain.
“Large transformers, it takes between four and five years to get them,” Kelliher said.
The additional inventory is intended to give the city more flexibility during major storms or other emergencies while also allowing it to replace aging equipment proactively.
Kelliher pointed to power issues North Platte experienced earlier this summer, saying some of those problems were related to older equipment that should have been replaced.
The electrical building expansion has been in the works for several years and is now beginning to appear in the city's budget.
The council also renewed the city's property and liability insurance through the League Association of Risk Management, or LARM.
Kelliher said the insurance rates themselves are not increasing, but the city's overall dollar amount is because it now has more property and newer vehicles to insure.
As portions of the new Cody Park recreation center come online, those facilities will be added to the city's coverage.
“Just basically a reflection of the continuing growth of North Platte and the direction everything is heading,” Kelliher said.
The city is continuing its three-year cycle for rebidding its property and liability insurance. Although the city agreed to a three-year contract last year, LARM's process requires the agreement to be renewed annually.
Kelliher said the city approved a two-year renewal this year and will likely approve a one-year renewal next year before going back out for bids in 2028.
The council also approved the second reading of an ordinance annexing approximately 2.326 acres associated with Deep Waters Retreat into North Platte's city limits.
The property is along North Rodeo Road near the Lincoln County Historical Museum and NebraskaLand Days and includes a large black metal building.
Kelliher said the annexation is required because the property is contiguous to the city and was subdivided.
The consent agenda included approval for San Pedro Mexican Restaurant to relocate from its current location to 1318 South Chestnut Street.
Kelliher said the new location, which previously housed a Chinese restaurant, will give the restaurant substantially more space.
The council also approved a fireworks request for the North Platte High School Homecoming Parade, expected Sept. 9, with Sept. 10 designated as the rain date.
Another consent item authorized Kelliher to execute documents for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area initiative.
Kelliher said the program brings together North Platte Police, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, Nebraska State Patrol and federal agencies for cooperative investigations, primarily involving drug enforcement.
The federal grant provides equipment rather than personnel funding.
“It's standard police sort of equipment,” Kelliher said. “So everything from radios to drones, that sort of thing.”
Kelliher also gave an update on the Cody Park pool project.
The city is hoping to open the new water slides for at least one day before colder weather arrives, although construction progress and weather will determine whether that happens.
The lazy river requires specialized concrete work followed by a 28-day curing period once water is added.
Kelliher said the city is still hoping to make the slides available for a day this year.
“I hope to make that happen before the end of the year because I think it would be something a lot of people would really enjoy,” he said. “And if not, it'll be a great thing next spring.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Kelliher said North Platte is continuing to adjust to growth.
The community has added residents, businesses and restaurants, but he said population growth remains a major piece of attracting additional retail and other services.
He pointed to businesses such as Target and Hy-Vee as examples of retailers residents would like to see in North Platte.
“But until we get more people, we won't have those things,” Kelliher said. “It's really that simple.”
The City Council's first budget work session is scheduled for Monday.