The Heartland Community School expansion project encountered another roadblock on the last day of the Nebraska Legislative session on June 1.
In May, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB243, the School District Tax Limitation Act creating new limits to the tax request authority for the General Fund and Special Building Fund of schools.
But it was the amendment tacked on the last minute that made this effective for the fiscal 2023-24 year that put the brakes on Heartland’s planned facility improvement project.
On June 2, the Heartland Board suspended their scheduled bid opening due to this surprise amendment.
Earlier this year, the Heartland School Board rejected the bids for the seven million-dollar project because they came back three million higher than expected. They then started the process of obtaining a 7-year lease-purchase agreement so the project could move forward without having to hold another election.
“Everything was on track to continue the building project until we encountered this new amendment,” said Superintendent Jeremy Klein. As a result, Heartland no longer had tax request authority to proceed with the project.
“In my view, what’s unusual with this bill is the combination of limits on both the general fund and special building fund. This really restrains schools when these two funds are tied together,” said Klein.
After receiving advice from the school’s attorneys and counsel, the Heartland board acted quickly. They met at their regular board meeting on June 12 to discuss their options and held two more special meetings in June to finalize their decision to hold a special election.
On June 21, the board approved a resolution to call a Special Election for August 15th to seek voter approval to exceed its state-certified tax request authority in the amount of $1.8 million.
“We acted as quickly as we could and just met the June 23rd filing deadline with the York County Election Commissioner,” said Klein. The York County Election Commissioner ultimately decided that Heartland would have an all-mail-in ballot.
If the proposition to exceed Heartland’s property tax request authority is approved, the building project will be able to get back on track and proceed in a matter of weeks, according to Klein.
Even though Heartland is pursuing this increased tax request authority because they need it to complete the voter-approved facility expansion, there will be benefits in the future for the Heartland school district.
“If approved, this will give us more flexibility to operate comfortably and have local control over any future changes and needs we have,” said Klein. He envisions many schools in the next few years holding special elections like Heartland is doing.
The Heartland Community and Information document explains in great detail why the passage of this resolution will have long-term benefits for the school.
Passage of the tax request authority proposition requires 60% of the voters’ approval. Ballots will be mailed between July 24 and August 4. Voted ballots may be returned by mail or hand-delivered to the York County Courthouse. The return deadline is 5 PM on election day, Tuesday, August 15.
The public is welcome to attend the next regular school board meeting on Monday, July 10, at 8 PM, when there will be a question and answer session at the beginning of the meeting to learn more about the upcoming special election.
The Henderson Chamber of Commerce is facilitating two morning coffee informational question-and-answer meetings. The first one is Thursday, July 13, at 10 AM at Sparrow’s Branch Cafe and Thursday, July 20, at 10 AM at the Henderson City Hall.
The Heartland School Board has been very proactive in getting out all the facts and information needed so voters can know what is happening. Click on this Heartland Link to learn more about the special election, building project, and tax and levy estimates.
