For years, perhaps decades, City Hall has reminded taxpayers that it has “not raised taxes.” In reality, what city officials are really saying is that they have not increased the property tax levy rate.

Those are not the same thing.

The distinction matters because it has contributed to one of the most persistent myths in local government: that rising property tax bills are primarily the result of increasing valuations. Increasing property valuations do not automatically necessitate an increase in property tax collections.

This myth resurfaced recently when Lincoln Chief Communications Officer Garrett Swanson stated that increases in City property tax revenue are “almost exclusively due to valuation increases from the Lancaster County Assessor’s Office.” Which is a patently incomplete, if not inaccurate statement.

The Lancaster County Assessor has one primary responsibility: to determine and certify the taxable valuation of property within Lancaster County. The assessor does not set the City budget, determine the City’s property tax request, or decide how much property tax revenue will be collected.

Those decisions belong exclusively to the Mayor and the Lincoln City Council.

The property tax request approved through the Mayor’s budget proposal and adopted by the City Council determines how large the overall bill will be.

The Assessor’s valuations merely affect how the bill is divided among taxpayers.

That is exactly why blaming rising tax collections on the assessor is misleading.

In the City of Lincoln:

  • In 2020, City property tax collections equaled ~$76.7 million.
  • By 2025, City property tax collections had grown to ~ $113.6 million.
  • That represents an increase of nearly $37 million annually, or 48.1%, over five years.

During that same period, the City levy rate actually declined from 0.3198 to 0.295329.

Yet despite the lower levy, the City collected substantially more property tax revenue each year because City budgets continued to require more and more property tax dollars.

Taxpayers have repeatedly heard statements such as:

Mayor’s Proposed Budget Closes Revenue Gap With No Property Tax Increase

City of Lincoln Mayor’s Office, June 2020

“We remained steadfast in our commitment to…. without increasing the property tax rate.” Nebraska Public Media, June 2026

“The city will not be raising taxes in this proposed plan…” KLKN, August 2025

Taxpayers don’t care about a levy rate – they care about what is taken out of their pocket. And these headlines lead them to believe that City government was collecting the same amount of property tax revenue.

The numbers tell a different story.

Between 2020 and 2025:

  • The City’s levy rate fell approximately 7.7%.
  • Taxable valuation increased approximately 60%.
  • City property tax collections increased approximately 48%.

Taxpayers should be less concerned about an increase in valuation and FAR more concerned with “Why did City government choose to collect nearly $37 million more in annual property tax revenue than it did just five years ago?”

The answer to that question is found at City Hall, not in the Assessor’s Office.