How Papillion is run
Who runs Papillion, 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 Papillion's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Papillion
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
Papillion city staff
331 full-time-equivalent positions, including Fire 74, Recreation 56, Police 55, Golf 29, Water 24. 2025-09-30. Full-time equivalent employees, including golf, water and sewer staff. City of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
The city publishes salary ranges for management and exempt jobs by ordinance. Individual pay is not published. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Papillion 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.
The city's own outlook
The FY2026-27 budget again uses sales tax reserves while the State withholds part of the city's sales tax for state incentive refunds. The city expects withholding through at least October 2028, though it has received part of its monthly collections since March 2026. The property tax levy drops to about $0.3605 per $100 of value. City of Papillion · Sep 15, 2026
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $21.9M (2025-09-30). The city's own target: The general fund cash reserve should stay between 28% and 40% of general fund spending. Measured on unrestricted cash against the FY2026 budget, the city was at 34%. A separate $57.4M sales tax reserve is set aside for state incentive refunds. City of Papillion · Mar 13, 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 FY2024-25 final budget.
Comes from
- Budgeted use of fund balance$17.4M · 37%
- Property tax$9.6M · 20%
- Papillion Rural Fire District$5.4M · 11%
- Investment income$3M · 6%
- Building permits$3M · 6%
- City of La Vista fire agreement$3M · 6%
- Highway allocation$2.4M · 5%
- Licenses, permits and fees$1.7M · 4%
- Other$2M · 4%
Goes to (FY2024-25 final budget)
- Fire$17.6M · 37%
- Police$10.4M · 22%
- Streets$5.6M · 12%
- Parks$2.9M · 6%
- General and administrative$2.2M · 5%
- Building and fire safety$1.9M · 4%
- Library$1.5M · 3%
- Other$5.5M · 12%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
The city's share is about 20 cents of each property tax dollar. Schools take the largest share.
20¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Papillion
- Schools (Papillion La Vista, Learning Community, ESU 3)1.125374 · 62%
- City of Papillion0.294 general levy and 0.072 bond levy.0.366 · 20%
- Sarpy County0.28496 · 16%
- Other (Papio NRD, Metro Community College, Agricultural Society)0.053025 · 3%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)1.829359
2025 rates for a home in Papillion in the Papillion La Vista school district (Sarpy County). Nebraska Department of Revenue · Nov 8, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Papillion is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityCity of Papillion Police DepartmentCity of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
- FireThe cityCity of Papillion Fire DepartmentCity of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity of PapillionCity of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
- SewerThe cityCity of PapillionCity of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
- ElectricitySeparate districtOmaha Public Power District (OPPD)City of Papillion · Sep 15, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity of PapillionCity of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
- LibraryThe cityCity of PapillionCity of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of PapillionIncludes two 18-hole golf courses, an aquatic facility and a community center and fieldhouse.City of Papillion · Mar 13, 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 Papillion publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Audited financial report filed on timeThe FY2025 report, audited by Forvis Mazars, is dated March 13, 2026. State law requires audited statements within six months. City of Papillion · Mar 13, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe pay ordinance says the City Administrator's pay is approved separately by the council. We found no posted agreement. City of Papillion · Aug 4, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineCouncil minutes list each member's roll call vote, as in the September 2, 2025 budget hearing minutes. City of Papillion · Sep 15, 2026
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no budget, audit or 2026 council document stating council pay. The city code is hosted on eCode360, which we could not read. City of Papillion
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Papillion · Aug 4, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The State has withheld part of the city's sales tax for state incentive refunds since 2023. How long can the $57.4M sales tax reserve cover the gap if withholding runs past October 2028?
- The general fund's unassigned balance was $21.9M on September 30, 2025, and the reserve policy targets 28% to 40% of spending. Where does the FY2026-27 budget leave the city against that range?
- Fire is the largest general fund cost, with a $17.6M final budget in FY2024-25. The Papillion Rural Fire District paid $5.4M and La Vista $3.0M toward it. How are the six new firefighter-paramedic positions in FY2026-27 shared?
The fiscal year starts October 1. The budget ordinance gets a first reading in August, a separate public hearing in early September and a final reading in mid-September, and must be adopted by September 30. For FY2026-27 the dates were August 18, September 1 and September 15, 2026. See who is running for council
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