Proposition coming to Kearney voters
Kearney city council unanimously chooses to add item for primary ballot in May
KEARNEY, Neb. --
An important question is coming to Kearney voters this May.
"The vote is about 'Where do we want Kearney to go,'" said Mayor Jonathan Nikkila.
Kearney has been awarded a Good Life District, where half of the state sales tax collected within a 200-acre area will be returned to the city no matter what.
"Do we want Kearney to continue to grow, be a place that brings people in, a place that's more attractive for students to come to UNK," Nikkila asked rhetorically. "This is really putting the marker down that we want to continue to have that role in the state."
The city council unanimously moving forward with placing a proposition on the ballot for the upcoming primary election this May. A "YES" vote gives them the authority to allocate where Kearney's portion of the tax returned from the state should go towards.
"We really want to give voters the opportunity to decide," said city manager, Brenda Jensen. "Are (voters) going to authorize city council to approve an economic development program for the Good Life District? Do we want to have that type of growth within the interstate corridor and around the SportsPlex, or is that not what we want for our community?"
Voting "NO" does not keep the money away from Kearney.
The state tax of 5.5 percent stays the same regardless and the city will get $2.75 of each $100 spent in the Good Life District.
A vote against this proposition hinders the the city council and economic development program, limiting them to allocate money towards water, sewer, and roads.
"A "YES" vote allows (the city council and economic development program) to refund developers for the expenditures that they've already had within the development," said Jensen. "That just entices even more development."
The Good Life District in Kearney includes the SportsPlex and the Drop Zone, a new outdoor golf venue opening later this year. It does not include the restaurants recently opening at Younes Landing, including Kinkaider, plus the Sip and Swirl wine bar.
"It's really important to give city council the use of all tools that we can use to make sure that development area is built the right way," said Nikkila. "We really feel like it's a slam dunk."