OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- If you have students within the Bellevue Public Schools or Papillion-La Vista Community Schools districts, you should soon be receiving an Impact Aid survey form, known within BPS as the First Count form.
Since Offutt Air Force Base resides within BPS’ and PLCS’ servicing boundaries, the districts receive less local revenue than other school districts as federal property is exempt from local property taxes.
Therefore, Impact Aid helps offset this loss by providing funding based on the number of federally connected students.
“School districts cannot apply for Impact Aid funding without your help in completing the First Count survey,” said Col. Patrick Kolesiak, 55th Mission Support Group commander. “The amount of funds received correlates directly to the number of military and Department of Defense civilian children identified through completion of the survey.”
Essentially, Impact Aid is an in-lieu-of-tax program where the federal government pays its local property taxes to a school district as a result of being within their boundaries.
“If you are a military member or a DoD civilian serving at Offutt or in the local area, your participation is critical in completing and returning the form to each of your children's schools,” Kolesiak said. “Let's do our part to ensure our children's education is the best it can be.”
Once complete, the survey form should be sent back to the school where they will be collected and submitted.
“This information is kept confidential and destroyed after validation has been accomplished through a federal audit of the district,” Kolesiak said.
The forms should be completed and submitted immediately, with a deadline of October 31, 2023.