Budget time

LAUREL — Area residents will soon get the chance to learn more about local taxing entities and the taxpayer dollars it takes to run them.

The majority of local taxing entities are planning public budget hearings next week.

The City of Laurel will hold its budget hearing Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. The city will be voting on an $11.2 million budget proposal. The city budget is asking local residents for $281,376 in property taxes to help fund the city.

The Village of Coleridge will hold its annual budget hearing at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11.

The Coleridge Village Board will be voting on a proposed $5 million budget to operate the village for the next year.

Cedar County will hold a public hearing on its 2023--24 budget at 8 a.m. Sept. 12. The county is proposing a $32.2 million budget this year.

The Laurel-Concord- Coleridge School Board, area villages, the Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District and the various area Fire Districts are also holding budget hearings this month.

The local school district received a nice surprise this year when the Nebraska Legislature agreed to fund $1,500 per student and to pay up to 80 percent of the costs for special education students. The move was designed to help reduce local property taxes.

For more information on these hearings and the budget figures being proposed for each one, check out the budget hearing notices inside this week’s issue and upcoming issues of the Laurel Advocate.