LB 289 — Change provisions relating to cities, villages, and boards of adjustment and redefine qualifying business under the Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act

The petitions shall conform with the requirements of section 32-628 and be procured from the village clerk with assistance from the election commissioner or county clerk.

The petitions shall be filed with the election commissioner or county clerk not less than seventy days prior to the date of the general election.

No signatures shall be added or removed from the petitions after they have been filed.

Petitions shall be verified as provided in section 32-631.

(b) A village board of trustees may, by majority vote of all members, adopt a resolution for the submission of the question regarding the number of members on the village board.

The resolution shall be filed with the election commissioner or county clerk not less than seventy days prior to the date of the general election.

(3) If the resolution is so filed or the petition or petitions are found to contain the required number of valid signatures, the election commissioner or county clerk shall cause the question to be submitted to the voters of the village at such statewide general election and give notice thereof in the general notice of such election.

The form of the ballot shall be respectively:

For three members of the village board of trustees or for five members of the village board;

and the same shall be printed upon the regular ballots cast for officers voted for at such election and shall be counted and canvassed in the same manner.

(4) If a majority of votes cast at the election favor the proposition for three members of the village board of trustees, thereafter the village shall have three members, and if a majority of the ballots cast at the election favor the proposition for five members of the village board, thereafter the village shall have five members.

Sec.

4.

Section 18-2709, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2024, is amended to read:

18-2709 (1) Qualifying business means any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or sole proprietorship which derives its principal source of income from any of the following:

The manufacture of articles of commerce;

the conduct of research and development;

the processing, storage, transport, or sale of goods or commodities which are sold or traded in interstate commerce;

the sale of services in interstate commerce;

headquarters facilities relating to eligible activities as listed in this section;

telecommunications activities, including services providing advanced telecommunications capability;

tourism-related activities;

or the production of films, including feature, independent, and documentary films, commercials, and television programs.

(2) Qualifying business also means:

(a) In cities of the first class, cities of the second class, and villages, a business that derives its principal source of income from the construction or rehabilitation of housing;

(b) In cities of the first class, cities of the second class, and villages, a business that derives its principal source of income from early childhood care and education programs;

(c) A business that derives its principal source of income from retail trade.

, except that no more than forty percent of the total revenue generated pursuant to the Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act for an economic development program in any twelve-month period and no more than twenty percent of the total revenue generated pursuant to the act for an economic development program in any five-year period, commencing from the date of municipal approval of an economic development program, shall be used by the city for or devoted to the use of retail trade businesses.

For purposes of this subdivision, retail trade means a business which is principally engaged in the sale of goods or commodities to ultimate consumers for their own use or consumption and not for resale;

and (d) In cities with a population of five thousand inhabitants or less as determined by the most recent federal decennial census or the most recent revised certified count by the United States Bureau of the Census, a business shall be a qualifying business even though it derives its principal source of income from activities other than those set out in this section.

(3) If a business which would otherwise be a qualifying business employs people and carries on activities in more than one city in Nebraska or will do so at any time during the first year following its application for participation in an economic development program, it shall be a qualifying business only if, in each such city, it maintains employment for the first two years following the date on which such business begins operations in the city as a participant in its economic development program at a level not less than its average employment in such city over the twelve-month period preceding participation.

(4) A qualifying business need not be located within the territorial boundaries of the city from which it is or will be receiving financial assistance.

-2- LB289 LB289 2025 (5) Qualifying business does not include a political subdivision, a state agency, or any other governmental entity, except as allowed for cities of the first class, cities of the second class, and villages for rural infrastructure development as provided for in subdivision (3)(b) of section 18-2705.

Sec.

5.

Section 19-911, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is amended to read:

19-911 Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 19-907 and 19-908, the city council of a city of the first class, the city council of a city of the second class, or a the village board of trustees may, except as set forth in section 19-912.01, provide by ordinance that such city council or village board it shall constitute a board of adjustment, and in the regulations and restrictions adopted pursuant to the authority of sections 19-901 to 19-905 may provide that as such board of adjustment it may exercise only the powers granted to boards of adjustment by section 19-910.

As such board of adjustment, the city council or the village board of trustees shall adopt rules and procedures that are in harmony with sections 19-907 to 19-910 and shall have the powers and duties of a board of adjustment provided for in such sections, and other parties shall have all the rights and privileges provided for in such sections.

The concurring vote of two-thirds of the members of the city council or the village board of trustees acting as a board of adjustment shall decide any question upon which it is required to pass as such board of adjustment.

Sec.

6.

Original sections 17-201, 17-202, and 19-911, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and section 18-2709, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2024, are repealed.

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