How Hastings is run
Who runs Hastings, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Hastings's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Hastings
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
- Three-year term from December 16, 2024, with an option to renew for three more years
- City pension contribution equal to 8% of salary
- Three weeks of vacation a year
- City pays professional dues and civic club memberships
Hastings city staff
440 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. Authorized positions, full and part time: 240 in city departments and 200 in the utilities. City of Hastings · Sep 14, 2026
The city posts yearly salary schedules with pay ranges for each position. We found no published list of individual employee pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Hastings in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $9.3M (2025-09-30). City of Hastings · Feb 10, 2026
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27 (adopted budget).
Comes from
- Property tax$8.6M · 24%
- Sales tax$6.4M · 18%
- FAA federal grant (airport)$4.9M · 14%
- Payment in lieu of tax from city utilities$4.3M · 12%
- State municipal equalization fund$1.3M · 3%
- Fund balance used$4.1M · 11%
- Other$6.6M · 18%
Goes to (FY2026-27 (adopted budget))
- Citywide accounts (capital outlay, transfers, insurance)$9.6M · 27%
- Police$7.9M · 22%
- Fire and rescue$5.4M · 15%
- Parks$2.7M · 7%
- Library$1.7M · 5%
- 911 Center$1.5M · 4%
- Other$7.5M · 21%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Rates are from the state's 2025 list of taxing subdivisions. For FY2026-27 the council raised the city levy to 0.406359.
19¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Hastings
- Hastings Public Schools1.02 · 52%
- City of Hastings0.379091 · 19%
- Adams County0.329721 · 17%
- Hastings Public Schools bonds0.14 · 7%
- Hastings Community Redevelopment Authority0.026 · 1%
- Central Community College0.02 · 1%
- Little Blue Natural Resources District0.017283 · <1%
- Adams County Ag Society0.014205 · <1%
- Educational Service Unit 90.013973 · <1%
- Total ($ per $100 of taxable value)1.960273
2025 rates for a home in the city of Hastings, inside Hastings Public Schools (Adams County). Nebraska Department of Revenue · Dec 31, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Hastings is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityHastings Police DepartmentCity of Hastings · Sep 14, 2026
- FireThe cityHastings Fire & RescueCity of Hastings · Sep 14, 2026
- ElectricityThe cityHastings UtilitiesCity of Hastings · Feb 10, 2026
- WaterThe cityHastings UtilitiesCity of Hastings · Feb 10, 2026
- SewerThe cityHastings UtilitiesCity of Hastings · Feb 10, 2026
- StreetsThe cityStreet DepartmentCity of Hastings
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of HastingsCity of Hastings · Sep 14, 2026
- AirportThe cityHastings Municipal AirportCity of Hastings
- Animal shelterContractorHeartland Pet ConnectionCity of Hastings · Jul 28, 2026
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | North PlatteNE | HastingsNE | PapillionNE | NorfolkNE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 22,524 | 25,121 | 25,127 | 26,677 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | $5,000 | Not confirmed | Not current (2022) |
| General fund per resident | $1,697 | $1,439 | $1,892 | $1,440 |
| Debt per resident | $3,419 | $472 | $3,751 | $2,354 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $43 | $3 | $0 | $-0 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | 17.5 | 13.2 | 9.9 |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).
What Hastings publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineCouncil minutes list each member's roll call vote by name. City of Hastings · Sep 14, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe city's City Officials page states the mayor receives $10,000 a year and each council member $5,000. City of Hastings
- Partly: Employee pay publishedThe council adopts salary schedules with pay ranges for each position. We found no list of individual employee pay. City of Hastings · Sep 14, 2026
Help decide what comes next
What do you want to know about Hastings next?
One tap, no sign-in. We count answers; we never show who chose what.
Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?
See something wrong? Report an error
Something wrong or missing? Tell us what and where, with a link to a source if you have one. Reports feed the next verification run.