The LIBA Board of Directors has reluctantly decided to support the proposed sales tax increase to finance necessary public safety projects. LIBA’s support of this proposal was not an easy decision. This sales tax compounds the effects of the arena occupation taxes and increases the burden on brick and mortar retailers struggling to compete with internet businesses that do not collect sales taxes. However, the sales tax was the best of the “bad options” put …
Chairperson Gloor and members of the Revenue Committee: I write today on behalf of the Lincoln Independent Business Association (LIBA) in opposition to LB 280 because it redirects school aid away from resource-poor districts and demands local taxpayers make up the difference. The Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act or TEEOSA formula, though not simple itself, distills into one simple equation: student needs – local resources = state equalization aid. Its purpose is to …
The Lincoln Independent Business Association opposes LB 478 which authorizes educational service units (ESU) to issue bonds without a public vote and increases ESU’s levy limit. LB 478 authorizes ESUs to issue general obligation bonds, paid by property taxes, and increases their levy by $0.01 to pay such bonds. However, just like any bond paid with property taxes, these bonds fall outside the ESU levy limit. Therefore, LB 478 allows ESUs to increase their levy …
The Lincoln Independent Business Association requests your support for LB 132 as a measure to control taxes and spending while also increasing transparency. LB 132 closes a loophole in the Joint Public Agency Act, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 13-2501 et seq., which currently gives Joint Public Agencies (JPA) broad authority to bond with little oversight. The Nebraska State Legislature passed the Joint Public Agency Act in 1999 with the goal of encouraging local governmental units to cooperate …
LIBA is pleased to support LB 61 as a measure that eliminates an unfunded mandate and thereby increases accountability and reduces reliance on property taxes. In Nebraska, unfunded mandates from state to local government are, in part, responsible for our heavy reliance on property taxes. Neb cipla cialis.Rev.Stat. §68-130 requires counties to provide space or pay the rent for space utilized by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in their county. This unfunded mandate …
Limit Bonding Authority of Joint Public Agencies (JPA). JPA’s are a valuable tool to encourage governmental cooperation and efficiency. JPA’s have been used to great success around the state. However, a loophole in the JPA Act allows JPA’s to issue more bonds with less oversight than participating agencies can alone. Effectively, the Act allows agencies to administratively combine to increase their authority and their revenues. LIBA believes JPA’s bonding ability must be limited so they …
The Lincoln Independent Business Association (LIBA) requests the Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) Board of Education work to lower the property tax levy in the next budget year. LIBA recognizes that LPS is not currently in their budget process, however, LPS is in process of negotiating with the Lincoln Education Association (LEA) for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Personnel costs are one of the main drivers of the LPS budget. Therefore, if the LPS Board intends to …
Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) will receive a little over $97 million dollars from Nebraska State Aid which is an increase of approximately $13.8 million dollars over last year. In addition, property valuations in Lincoln should result in an approximate increase of $4.8 million in property tax receipts over last year[i] including a heretofore unanticipated $1.2 million.[ii] Given these facts, LIBA feels compelled to address three issues. Strategic Planning: The 2013-2014 LPS budget allocates $250,000 …