Nebraska Amendment 2, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Repayment Amendment (2020)

Nebraska Amendment 2
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Taxes and Property
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature
List of Nebraska measuresNebraska Amendment 1Nebraska Amendment 2Nebraska Initiative 428Nebraska Initiative 429Nebraska Initiative 430Nebraska Initiative 431Submit

Nebraska Amendment 2, the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Repayment Amendment, was on the ballot in Nebraska as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to increase the repayment period for tax increment financing from 15 to 20 years for areas where more than one-half of properties are designated as extremely blighted.

A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment, thereby keeping the repayment period for tax increment financing at 15 years, including for areas where more than one-half of properties are designated as extremely blighted.

Election results

Nebraska Amendment 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		520,236	61.16%
No		330,445	38.84%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Amendment 2 change?

Amendment 2 increased the repayment period for tax-increment financing (TIF) from 15 years to 20 years for areas where more than one-half of properties are designated as extremely blighted. In Nebraska, an extremely blighted area is defined as a census tract with an average unemployment rate that is 200 percent or more of the average state unemployment rate and the poverty rate is more than 20 percent.

What is TIF?

TIF is intended to finance economic development in an area. In Nebraska, the governing bodies of cities and villages can enact resolutions to declare an area as substandard, blighted, and in need of redevelopment and create a TIF district. The local government can then issue bonds to finance improvements associated with redevelopment projects in the district. As of 2019, local governments can use increased tax revenue, resulting from increased property values due to development, to pay off the bonds over a 15-year period. The ballot measure would increase the period to pay off the bonds and indebtedness from 15 years to 20 years for TIF districts designated as extremely blighted.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title would be as follows:

“

A constitutional amendment to authorize the Legislature to allow cities and villages to pledge property taxes as part of a redevelopment project for a period not to exceed twenty years if, due to a high rate of unemployment combined with a high poverty rate as determined by law, more than one-half of the property in the project area is extremely blighted. [ ] For [ ] Against

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary would be as follows:

“

A vote FOR this constitutional amendment would amend the Nebraska Constitution to authorize the Legislature to extend the maximum length of time for the repayment of indebtedness related to tax-increment financing from 15 years to 20 years if more than one-half of the property in the project area is designated as extremely blighted. A vote AGAINST this constitutional amendment would leave the maximum length of time for repayment of indebtedness unchanged at 15 years.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VIII, Nebraska Constitution

The ballot measure amended Section 12 of Article VIII of the Nebraska Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was deleted:

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

For the purpose of rehabilitating, acquiring, or redeveloping substandard and blighted property in a redevelopment project as determined by law, any city or village of the state may, notwithstanding any other provision in the Constitution, and without regard to charter limitations and restrictions, incur indebtedness, whether by bond, loans, notes, advance of money, or otherwise. Notwithstanding any other provision in the Constitution or a local charter, such cities or villages may also pledge for and apply to the payment of the principal, interest, and any premium on such indebtedness all taxes levied by all taxing bodies, which taxes shall be at such rate for a period not to exceed fifteen years, on the assessed valuation of the property in the project area portion of a designated blighted and substandard area that is in excess of the assessed valuation of such property for the year prior to such rehabilitation, acquisition, or redevelopment. Cities and villages may pledge such taxes for a period not to exceed fifteen years, except that the Legislature may allow cities and villages to pledge such taxes for a period not to exceed twenty years if, due to a high rate of unemployment combined with a high poverty rate as determined by law, more than one-half of the property in the project area is designated as extremely blighted.

When such indebtedness and the interest thereon have been paid in full, such property thereafter shall be taxed as is other property in the respective taxing jurisdictions and such taxes applied as all other taxes of the respective taxing bodies.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2020

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The secretary of state wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 12, and the FRE is 45. The word count for the ballot title is 64, and the estimated reading time is 17 seconds. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 19, and the FRE is 21. The word count for the ballot summary is 73, and the estimated reading time is 19 seconds.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• Nebraska State Senator Justin T. Wayne (D)

Arguments

• Nebraska State Senator Justin Wayne (D): "Historically, the basic goal of TIF has been to revitalize those portions of our community that have been left behind. What we’ve seen in Omaha is that because developers are able to access TIF in many newer neighborhoods, there’s less incentive for them to explore that same type of development in struggling communities like North and South Omaha. Amendment 2, which appears on the November general election ballot, is designed to incentivize developers to use TIF in those areas that need the most help."

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

• Nebraska State Senator Steve Erdman (R)
• Nebraska State Senator Mike Groene (R)

Campaign finance

The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through January 12, 2020.

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Nebraska ballot measures

There were no ballot measure committees registered in support of or in opposition to Amendment 2.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

TIF in Nebraska

See also: Nebraska Redevelopment Bonds, Amendment 1 (1978)

In 1978, voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing for tax-increment financing (TIF), and the legislature passed a statute to implement the amendment the following year.

TIF is intended to finance economic development in an area. In Nebraska, cities and villages have the power to declare an area as substandard, blighted, and in need of redevelopment and create a TIF district. The local government can then issue bonds to finance improvements associated with redevelopment projects in the district. As of 2019, local governments can use increased tax revenue, resulting from increased property values due to development, to pay off the bonds over a 15-year period.

Referred amendments on the ballot

From 1996 through 2018, the state legislature referred 54 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 20 and rejected 34 of the referred amendments. All of the amendments appeared on even-year ballots. The average number of amendments appearing on the ballot was between four and five. The approval rate at the ballot box was 37.0 percent during the 22-year period from 1996 through 2018. The rejection rate was 63.0 percent. Preceding 2020, the last time voters in Nebraska addressed legislatively referred constitutional amendments was 2012.

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2018
Years	Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Average	Median	Minimum	Maximum
Even years	54	20	37.0%	34	63.0%	4.5	3.5	0	17

Tax policies on the ballot in 2020

See also: Taxes on the ballot

In 2020, voters in 14 states voted on 21 ballot measures addressing tax-related policies. Ten of the measures addressed taxes on properties, three were related to income tax rates, two addressed tobacco taxes, one addressed business-related taxes, one addressed sales tax rates, one addressed fees and surcharges, and one was related to tax-increment financing (TIF).

Click Show to read details about the tax-related measures on statewide ballots in 2020.

Tax-related policy ballot measures in 2020

Income Tax a/ot Arizona Proposition 208: The campaign Invest in Education proposed the ballot initiative to enact a 3.50% income tax, in addition to the existing income tax (4.50% in 2020), on income above $250,000 (single filing) or $500,000 (joint filing). Proposition 208 was designed to distribute the revenue from the 3.50% income tax to teacher and classroom support staff salaries, retention programs, and career and technical education programs. a Colorado Proposition 116: In 1987, the state's income tax was changed from graduated rates to a flat rate. Going into 2020, that flat rate was 4.63%. The ballot initiative reduced the rate from 4.63% to 4.55%. d Illinois Allow for Graduated Income Tax Amendment: The Illinois State Legislature proposed this constitutional amendment to allow the state to enact legislation for a graduated income tax. Going into 2020, the state constitution required that the state personal income tax be a flat rate. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), who advocated for a graduated income tax during his gubernatorial campaign, was providing funds to the campaign backing the amendment. Business-Related Taxes d Alaska Ballot Measure 1: The campaign Vote Yes for Alaska's Fair Share proposed the ballot initiative to increase taxes on oil production fields located in Alaska's North Slope that exceeded certain output minimums. According to Robin Brena, chairperson of Vote Yes for Alaska's Fair Share, three oil production fields—Alpine, Kuparuk, and Prudhoe Bay—met those criteria. BP, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, and Hilcorp Energy funded the campaign to defeat Measure 1. a Nebraska Initiative 431: The initiative was designed to impose an annual tax of 20% on gross gambling revenue of licensed gaming operators; distributing 2.5% of tax revenue to the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund, 2.5% to the General Fund, 70% to the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund, and 25% to the counties where gambling is authorized at licensed racetracks. The initiative was one of three initiatives that together were designed to authorize, regulate, and tax gambling at racetracks in Nebraska. Property-Related Taxes d California Proposition 15: The ballot initiative would have amended Proposition 13 (1978), which required that residential, commercial, and industrial properties are taxed based on their purchase price, with an annual adjustment based on inflation or 2%, whichever was lower. Proposition 15 would have required commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value. In California, the proposal to assess taxes on commercial and industrial properties at market value, while continuing to assess taxes on residential properties based on the purchase price, is known as split roll. The state fiscal analyst estimated that Proposition 15 would generate between $6.5 billion and $11.5 billion. Proposition 15 would have required that the revenue be allocated to local governments and schools. a California Proposition 19: The state Legislature proposed the constitutional amendment as a compromise with the California Association of Realtors, which had qualified a different ballot initiative. Proposition 19 was designed to allow tax assessments to be transferred from someone's old home to their new home anywhere in the state and increased the number of times that tax assessments can be transferred from one to three for persons over 55 years old or with severe disabilities. Proposition 19 was also designed to require that inherited homes that are not used as principal residences, such as second homes or rentals, be reassessed at market value when transferred. a Colorado Amendment B: The constitutional amendment repealed the Gallagher Amendment (1982), which required a 45%-55% ratio between residential assessment rates and non-residential assessment rates regarding tax revenue. Therefore, Amendment B permitted the Colorado Legislature to define tax assessment limits without reference to the 45%-55% ratio requirement. In Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia, voters also decided eight ballot measures related to exemptions, adjustments, and payments: Florida Amendment 5, Florida Amendment 6, Referendum A, Louisiana Amendment 2, Louisiana Amendment 5, Louisiana Amendment 6, New Jersey Question 2, and Virginia Question 2. Sales Tax a Arkansas Issue 1: The ballot measure continued an existing a 0.5% sales tax, with revenue dedicated to roads, highways, and bridges. Going into 2020, the tax was set to expire in 2023. Issue 1 had the support of Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), and the campaign behind Issue 1 received financial support from Alice and Jim Walton. Tobacco a Colorado Proposition EE: The ballot measure increased the tax rate on cigarettes from 84 cents per pack to $2.64 per pack and the tax rate on tobacco products from 40% of the manufacturer's list price to 62% of the manufacturer's list price. The ballot measure created a tax on nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, with scheduled increases over seven years to 62% of the manufacturer's list price. Revenue from the tax increases was dedicated to preschool, education, housing, and the General Fund. a Oregon Measure 108: The ballot measure increased the cigarette tax from $1.33 to $3.33 per pack. The ballot measure also taxed e-cigarettes and other nicotine inhalants at a rate of 65% of the wholesale sales price and cigars at 65% of the wholesale sales price (but not to exceed $1.00 per cigar). Measure 108 dedicated revenue from the tax increases to the Oregon Health Authority. Fees a Colorado Proposition 117: In 1992, the Colorado Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) Amendment defined government-owned firms that provide goods or services for a fee as enterprises. Examples of enterprises include state nursing homes, state lotteries, Colorado Correctional Industries, and College Assist. The ballot measure was designed to require voter approval of laws that create new enterprises should the enterprise's projected or actual revenue from fees and surcharges exceed $100 million within the first five years. TIF a Nebraska Amendment 2: The constitutional amendment increased the repayment period for tax increment financing from 15 to 20 years for areas where more than one-half of properties are designated as extremely blighted.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Nebraska Constitution

In Nebraska, a constitutional amendment requires a 60 percent vote in the Nebraska State Senate in one legislative session.

On January 23, 2019, Sen. Justin T. Wayne (D-13) introduced the constitutional amendment as Legislative Resolution 14CA (LR 14CA). On April 4, 2019, the full state Senate voted 40-0 to send the measure to final reading.

On April 18, the state Senate held the final reading of LR 14CA. The legislature voted to refer LR 14CA to the ballot, with 43 senators supporting the amendment, two senators opposing the amendment, and four members not voting.

Vote in the Nebraska State Senate April 18, 2019
Requirement: Three-fifths (60 percent) vote of all members of the legislature
Number of yes votes required: 30  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	43	2	4
Total percent	87.76%	4.08%	8.16%
Democrat	18	0	0
Republican	24	2	4
Independent	1	0	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Nebraska

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Nebraska.

How to cast a vote in Nebraska

The information below covers regular voting policies in the state. Information may have not applied to the election on November 3, 2020, because of temporary changes in response to coronavirus. Click here to read about changes made for the 2020 elections. Poll times In Nebraska, all polling locations are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central Time and 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Nebraska is divided between Central and Mountain time zones. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. To register to vote in Nebraska, each applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the Nebraska county in which they are registering, and at least 18 years old by the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Citizens are eligible to register to vote on January 1 of the year they will turn 18 before the November general election. People convicted of a felony regain the right to vote upon completion on their sentence, including parole and probation. Individuals who have been declared mentally incompetent by a court are ineligible to register to vote. A voter registration application can be completed in person at the county clerk or election commissioner's office, the Department of Motor Vehicles, or other state agencies. In-person registration must be completed by the third Friday preceding the election if completed at the DMV or other state agencies. In-person registration at county election offices must be completed by 6 p.m. on the second Friday before the election. Applications returned by mail must be postmarked by the third Friday before the election. Online applications must be submitted by midnight on the third Friday before the election. Automatic registration Nebraska does not practice automatic voter registration. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Nebraska has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. The Nebraska State Senate enacted legislation allowing online voter registration in 2014, and the system was implemented in 2015. Same-day registration Nebraska does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirements In Nebraska, citizens can register to vote the day they become residents of the state. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States Nebraska does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, "any registrant who signs this application knowing that any of the information in the application is false shall be guilty of a Class IV felony under section 32-1502 of the statutes of Nebraska. The penalty for a Class IV felony is up to two years imprisonment and twelve months post-release supervision, a fine of up to $10,000.00, or both." All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registration The Voter View site, run by the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements Nebraska requires voters to present identification while voting. Initiative 432, approved by Nebraska voters in November 2022, amended Article I of the state constitution to require voters to present valid photo identification in order to vote. Governor Jim Pillen (R) signed Legislative Bill 514 into law on June 1, 2023, in order to implement this policy change. Due to this legislation, Nebraska's voter ID requirement went into effect on April 1, 2024, in time for the state's 2024 primary.

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• Property on the ballot
• 2020 petition deadlines

Nebraska

• Nebraska ballot measures
• Nebraska initiative laws
• TIF district

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Legislative Resolution 14CA