OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Neighbors made their voices heard on Mayor Ewing's recommended budget for 2026 on Tuesday night.
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Neighbors, community advocates, and organization leaders filed into legislative chambers to speak out about next year's budget.
"One issue I see with the general fund is the fact that the Omaha Police Department makes up over 1/3 of this proposed budget," one neighbor said.
Some sharing about the need for money for affordable housing.
"The police does not need an increase in funding; we need to pour funding into programs that support affordable housing," one neighbor said.
Another neighbor wants the council to take a second look at the budget for parks, which is a smaller piece of the general fund appropriations.
"These are the fields we played in, these are the grass I've seen kids roll in, these are trails that I walk nearly every day with my dog, and I see so many people using them," said Steven Dickerson.
Creating the budget takes time, but some neighbors feel public involvement in the process needs to be re-evaluated.
"Our government processes are often opaque and inaccessible, which is why I would love for a small portion of this budget to be dedicated further to constituent services and communications to help make things more accessible," said Gab Rima, co-founder and education lead at Strongly Worded Letters, a civic engagement organization in Omaha.
Some came in support of the budget as it stands.
"I am extremely pleased on the investment that is being provided for firefighter cancer and health screenings," said Trevor Towey, president of the Omaha Professional Fire Fighters.
"We are grateful to be included in the mayor's budget," said Erin Porterfield, executive director at Heartland Workforce Solutions.
But still, many think the city can do more.
"We need to ask ourselves, is this budget doing enough? And I currently don't think it is," said Emma Scheel.
The next step in the budget process is for the city council to vote on the proposed budget, scheduled for August 26.
