Nebraska Amendment 2, Authorize the Merger of Counties and Municipalities Measure (1996)
| Nebraska Amendment 2 | |
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| Topic Administration of government and County and municipal governance |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Nebraska Amendment 2 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Nebraska on November 5, 1996. It was defeated.
A "yes" vote supported amending the state constitution to provide for the merging and consolidation of counties and other local governments. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the state constitution to provide for the merging and consolidation of counties and other local governments. |
Election results
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Nebraska Amendment 2 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 268,418 | 47.13% | ||
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301,064 | 52.87% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Amendment 2 was as follows:
| “ | A constitutional amendment to authorize legislation relating to mergers and consolidations by local governments, to authorize the Legislature to provide for differences in tax rates within and outside municipalities, to change a restriction on allocation of proceeds from motor vehicle taxes, to provide that property of the state and its governmental subdivisions is exempt from taxation to the extent such property is used for public purposes and to authorize classification and taxation of such property, and to repeal and eliminate provisions dealing with township organization and towns. [ ] For [ ] Against | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for this measure was:
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A vote FOR this proposal: (a) will provide for the merger or consolidation of counties or other local governments such as municipalities with the approval of a majority of the people in each county or municipality to be merged or consolidated; (b) will allow such merger or consolidation to be initiated by petition; (c) will allow the Legislature to provide for differences in tax rates within and outside municipalities and on different classes of property so long as the differences in tax rates and classifications are reasonable and are required by an agreement between local governments, governing such mergers or consolidations; (d) would change the allocation of proceeds from the motor vehicle tax; (e) would exempt from taxation property of the state and its governmental subdivisions to the extent that it is used for a public purpose, and to the extent such property is not used for a public purpose, will allow the Legislature to classify it, exempt it, tax it, or provide for payments in lieu of property taxes; and (f) repeal provisions in the constitution relating to towns and township organizations. A vote AGAINST this proposal will deny the Legislature the power to provide for the merger or consolidation of counties and municipalities or other local governments under the procedures and conditions outlined above, or to provide for the undertaking of other activities set forth above relating to tax rates, the allocation of motor vehicle taxes, the exemption or not of public property, and the repeal of those provisions relating to towns or townships. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Nebraska Constitution
A 60% supermajority vote is required during one legislative session for the Nebraska State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 30 votes in the unicameral legislature, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval. However, the number of affirmative votes cast for the measure must be greater than 35% of the total votes cast in the election. This also applies to citizen initiatives.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Nebraska Lincoln (capital) |
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