Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Ed. note: The print edition of SAM has the wrong amount for the anticipated budget. Instead of $16.1 million, the print edition reports $16.1 billion. The correct amount has been updated in this article. SAM regrets the error. Summerland Public School District will enter the 2024-2025 fiscal year with an anticipated budget of $16.1 million, which includes $11.825 million in the general fund, $3.25 million in the bond fund and just over $1 million in a special building fund. The total property ta...
One of the most exciting things we can do for the places we love is make a planned gift. Exciting might not be the first word we associate with making a will, which is the simplest and most common way to make a charitable planned gift, but bear with me for a moment. Planning your estate offers a poignant opportunity to examine your passions and values. When we sit down to decide what causes are important enough to be included in our legacy, the stakes become a bit higher. We catalog our lives,...
Hometowns in Greater Nebraska have so much to offer. At Nebraska Community Foundation, we work with over 270 communities and 1,500 volunteers across the state who are utilizing the assets unique to their places to fuel community development that will continue to attract new generations of Nebraskans. Homegrown philanthropy is a major asset in this endeavor. Charitable dollars and endowment payout are being used to fund projects and programs that directly benefit young people and their families...
Summerland board of education members approved two resignations during the June 10 meeting. Alyssa Beed, a paraprofessional, resigned since she is moving out of the area. Superintendent Kyle Finke said, "At this time, we'll kind of wait to see where we're going. I don't know if we necessarily need to replace her." Finke said that decision could be made closer to the beginning of the school year. Kathy Strope informed Finke she was not interested in returning to work in the kitchen, but she...
Humans have a penchant for looking far ahead. Ask a room of kids what they want to be when they grow up, and you’ll quickly discover just how creative we can be when it comes to envisioning our future. Along the same lines, if you ask members of a community about their dreams for their hometown, you’ll leave with a long list. The tricky thing about the future, though, is that it hasn’t happened yet. Even with the most meticulous planning, events undoubtedly unfold in ways we can’t quite foretel...
Last week, the Legislature gave final round approval to the two mid-biennium budget adjustment bills: LB1412 and LB1413. The two bills will increase the state budget by 2.7% in this two-year period, which is up from the 2.3% approved last year. The primary factor for this growth is due to an additional $94.1 million increase in state aid to schools, which accounts for actual education spending now that LB583 has taken effect. LB583 was passed last year as a revision to the TEEOSA school-funding...
Recently, amid renewed concern about “the brain drain,” my thoughts returned to a particularly inspiring moment during Nebraska Community Foundation’s 2023 annual celebration. At the end of her lunch plenary speech, Takaylynn Hergott of Hebron asked any attendees under the age of 25 to stand. As the applause faded, she told the audience to look around the hall at her peers who remained standing. This, she said, is the future. It was a powerful scene and it hinted at something we’ve heard t...
With the end of the darkest days of the year and the anticipation of Christmas, we, in the Legislature, are making final preparations for the session in January. Sen, Kauth's LB575, the Sports and Spaces Act, remains poised to be the topic of contention during the next session. This bill would require sports participation and access to bathrooms in schools to align with one's biological gender. With the attention Nebraska received this year from an historic filibuster, state senators were...
The chickens are coming home to roost. Several tax watchdog groups say the Legislature, at the behest of the governor, has gone overboard in depleting state revenue by earmarking too much for property tax relief. But Governor Jim Pillen debunks the reports. He said they came up with different numbers than he did. Here's the rub. He hasn't read the reports. Let that sink in for a minute. Not unlike the reports on higher than acceptable levels of nitrates in the groundwater near his pig farms. He...
I don't remember much about my recent 64-block ambulance ride from my house to an urban hospital, but I was told after the fact that it was a matter of a few minutes to keep my body from going into septic shock. The whole incident helped me understand the critical importance of getting rural patients to medical care as quickly as possible. It also speaks volumes about staffing those ambulances with competent medical professionals. That's why I support the efforts of Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams in...
One of the best parts of my role at Nebraska Community Foundation is listening to our NCF affiliated fund volunteers speak about their communities with pride. These local leaders invest so much time, treasure and talent into their hometowns and often go unsung. So, when an opportunity arises to showcase their success, we rarely turn it down. Such was the case in September, when a group of 17 visitors from Canada toured Nebraska to witness the progress small towns can make when residents are...
Governor Jim Pillen had an epiphany that paying a consultant $10 million over the next four years would save the state money. Pillen has signed the $2.5 million/year contract, renewable three times, with Epiphany Associates of Utah to find ways to save the state money. In the process, he dismantled the seven-year-old Center for Operational Excellence which was doing the same thing. The 26 employees in that little known division of the Department of Administrative Services completed nearly 1,000 process improvement projects and cut costs by...
During the interim, I have talked to many constituents who had questions regarding a bill enacted by the Legislature earlier this year: LB583. LB583 makes adjustments to the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act formula for state aid to Nebraska's public schools. As reported in the Unicameral Update, "Under LB583, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Rita Sanders at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, the state will pay public school districts $1,500 in foundation aid per student beginning...
Agriculture, broadband connectivity and tax savings were key topics addressed during Gov. Jim Pillen's town hall meeting, June 28, in O'Neill. Pillen opened by telling the crowd of approximately 80 that his team strives to work for "all Nebraskans. "I can't stand politics. I can't stand politicians," the governor said. "The privilege I had in the first six months, it is unbelievable how many incredible public servants we have serving the state of Nebraska." One of Pillen's goals has been to...
The new governor says, jubilantly, the honeymoon cruise with the Nebraska Legislature was a huge success. Sorry governor, I'm seeing flags. Red flags. The cheering I hear is, "See you in court!" So, let's wait until the lawsuits are filed and the petition drives are all launched before we get too excited. In a "report card" from his office, Governor Jim Pillen said he was elected to office "with a clear mandate to make transformational change in the areas most important to our future: our kids;...
The 108th Legislature, First Session, has adjourned sine die. This past year, lawmakers passed some important bills and failed to agree on other critical issues. Excluding A bills, of the 820 bills and 274 resolutions introduced this year, only 33 bills and one resolution actually received a final vote. However, the bills passed included many expansive Christmas tree packages, meaning the Legislature actually passed 291 bills in total, including A bills. This figure is comparable to the last...
Amid nasty debate about social issues, filibustering and theater playing out in the legislative chamber, lawmakers did manage to meet their constitutional obligation and pass a balanced budget on day 80 of the 90-day session. The two-year budget calls for about $5.3 billion a year in spending, with an average increase of 2.2%. It sets aside a generous amount for cuts in state income taxes and increases in tax credits for property taxes, as well as allocating the final funds for a $366 million...
This week saw the Legislature continue to work late into the night to complete its business before adjourning in June. Although only a few bills have advanced thus far, a tremendous amount of work is going on behind the scenes by various legislative divisions such as the clerk’s office, transcribers, bill drafters, information technology, research, and committees to ensure bills are ready for the floor. With all the budget bills sitting on final reading, senators spent several days working to p...
With less than two weeks left in the session, the 108th Legislature is dragging an overburdened $12.975 billion budget to the finish line. Passing the budget is the only thing lawmakers are constitutionally required to accomplish. As introduced by the Appropriations Committee, the budget proposal would result in a projected ending balance of almost $715 million above the 3% required minimum reserve. This amount would be available to fund proposals pending before the Legislature this session....
This week saw the Legislature debate the mainline state budget. The latest projections from the Economic Forecasting Board lowered revenue projections for the current fiscal year by $80 million to $6.36 billion. The adjustment was based on anticipated decrease of $200 million in individual income, sales and use tax receipts, offset in part by projected increases of $120 million in corporate and miscellaneous tax receipts. Total projected revenue receipts for Fiscal Year 2023-24, however, were ra...
It seems way too easy a solution to a problem that has plagued the Legislature for years, school funding. But lawmakers have advanced Governor Jim Pillen's proposal for the state to pay public school districts $1,500 in foundation aid per student beginning with school fiscal year 2023-24. The measure - LB583 - would also increase state aid to school districts to help cover their special education expenses. It's all part of a larger package that includes income tax cuts, property tax relief and...
This week saw the Legislature continue the discussion of the governor’s school finance and tax package. LB 243, as amended by the Revenue Committee, would make a series of changes aimed at easing the financial impact of increasing property tax valuations on Nebraska’s local property taxpayers. Among changes proposed, the measure would increase the minimum amount of relief granted under the Property Tax Credit Act to $388 million in tax year 2024 and $560 million by tax year 2029. This amo...
Nebraska Community Foundation received a $5,000 grant for the Antelope County 4-H Youth Enrichment Center. The grant is provided through Farm Credit Services of America’s (FCSAmerica) Working Here Fund. The Working Here Fund grant will be used to help build a new, modern, multi-use facility that can be used year-round for 4-H activities. The new building will provide space for poultry and rabbits during the Antelope County Fair and the 4-H council and staff will provide year-round programing in the facility. “The new facility will offer a cli...
His predecessor spent eight years pushing property tax relief. Now, Governor Jim Pillen wants to clearly tie said property tax relief to school finance. It's up to the Legislature to figure out how to make that work. Lawmakers are used to people complaining about property taxes. Now, throw in some school districts that say a proposed distribution of state aid isn't fair and equitable. What do you have? A real mess or a problem begging for a solution? Pillen is behind three priority measures...
On Wednesday, Jan. 25, Gov.Jim Pillen delivered his first State of the State address to the Legislature. The beginning of his speech focused on his team’s transition since the November general election and the strong state of Nebraska today. He emphasized how our state’s greatest asset - people - continually show perseverance, grit and determination to solve tough problems and overcome difficult obstacles. Although the state is strong and growing, Pillen argued more needs to be done to ret...
