On casino revenue, a former mayoral chief of staff, library bonds and county studies

So, about that casino revenue …

At the public hearing on the mayor’s proposed biennial budget, Jane Kinsey — who’s been a vigilant observer and often a critic of city government at least since the development of Pinnacle Bank Arena — criticized the city’s proposed use of casino revenue.

She said the city’s plans to use the revenue for affordable housing, park and playground improvements, the development of South Haymarket Park and to support early childhood education wasn’t in keeping with the Legislature’s promise that the money be used to lower property taxes.

That’s not entirely true, but how that money is being used isn’t exactly how the drafters of the legislation intended it to be used.

Seventy percent of casino revenue goes to the state’s property tax relief fund. Another 2.5% goes to the state general fund and 2.5% to the state’s Compulsive Gambler’s Assistance Fund. The remaining 25% is split between the city and county governments where a casino is located.

City officials said in an email that those dollars aren’t restricted and are available for a “wide variety of community needs.”

But Lynne McNally, chief executive officer of the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, who helped draft the legislation, said the original intent of directing money to cities and counties was to cover increased costs a casino might generate for services such as transportation, police and fire.

Cities and counties are often upset by unfunded mandates coming from the Legislature, she said, and they didn’t want to be responsible for one.

“It’s not binding because we didn’t spell it out in statute, but our intention was to pay for firefighters, additional bus lines, things like that,” she said. “We had not intended it to go to a park in some other neighborhood. The council ultimately has authority to spend it any way they want.”

In Lincoln, she said, casino officials were hoping to see an additional bus line to the casino in the proposed budget so anyone could work for the casino, even if they don’t have a car.

She said she intended to speak to the council, but at this point, hasn’t had the time because of the opening of the casino in Omaha and the Nebraska Legislature’s special session.

In Grand Island, casino taxes revenues went into the general fund to help keep the tax levy flat, said City Administrator Laura McAloon.

Lancaster County last year directed about $1.2 million of casino taxes into federal road projects to help meet federal matching requirements, said Budget Officer Dennis Meyer. This year, the County Board decided to split the money between infrastructure improvements and to help with early childhood education grants.

Meyer said earmarking money for specific programs was a good way to help explain to taxpayers how casino revenues are being spent, and roads infrastructure is such a huge need. He said the money helped to generate additional match dollars so more available federal dollars would come to Lancaster County’s road projects.

At this point, the money generated for cities and counties is not really enough to move the needle on property tax relief, but once casinos are fully operational it could, he said.

Jennifer Williams, who was the mayor’s chief of staff for her first term, is working for her old boss again.

Williams, who left the mayor’s office in May 2023, now works for the lobbying and consulting firm American Communications Group.

The city contracts with the company for state lobbying and project management and has two current contracts with it, one with Williams, city officials said in an email.

Williams, who resigned as chief of staff in 2023, will get $80,000 for a year’s work.

Her experience in building and development includes working for a private real estate company called Tetrad Property Group and her work on the development of Pinnacle Bank Arena, city officials said.

The contract with Williams began in May to work on the city’s downtown corridors project, including the music district, public safety improvements, library service enhancements and “other projects that go beyond day-to-day services,” according to an email from city officials.

Speaking of library service enhancements, it looks like city officials are considering a $75 million bond issue for library services in 2026.

The city’s capital improvement program, which lists all the capital projects the city is planning and those to be budgeted for in the next two years, includes $75 million in general obligation bonds in 2026.

The projects listed that year include a downtown central library ($70 million), library branch improvements ($15 million) and near-term library improvements ($250,000 in both 2025 and 2026).

Funding sources for those projects include the general obligation bonds, $10 million in “other financing” and $250,000 in general revenues.

Discussions about building a new central library downtown have been going on for well over a decade, long before Ryan Wieber replaced longtime library director Pat Leach.

In 2021, the city hired consultants to survey residents and come up with a design and cost estimates and came up with a preferred location — where Pershing Auditorium stood for 66 years.

But because of the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, Leach decided to push back plans to float a bond issue until at least the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Then Wieber took the job and started the conversation again, but he wanted to look at the needs of the entire system. He worked with the same consultants to restart a process that involved surveying residents and considering improvements to branch locations.

In February, the Foundation for Lincoln City Libraries launched an online poll to test the waters for a $70 million bond issue to update and expand the Anderson branch in northeast Lincoln, Gere branch in southeast Lincoln and replace Bennett Martin Library downtown as well as improve services systemwide. It also polled residents on how they felt about a $90 million bond that would include a new neighborhood branch in southeast Lincoln.

It seems they’ve settled on $75 million, though Wieber stressed it’s in the CIP as part of the planning process.

“I would say we don’t know where the funds are coming from at this point, but we want to make sure it’s part of the planning,” he said. “There’s nothing specific I can say, but it’s significant to say it’s in the second year of the CIP, which will allow us the ability to do more community engagement and identify the best solution for our downtown and branch locations.”

The city has other funding issues on the horizon that could involve asking for voters’ support: The city’s quarter-cent sales tax to provide more funding for street improvements ends in September 2025.

The Lancaster County Board is planning to do a study of the Youth Services Center to see what space, structural or mechanical needs might need to be addressed.

The board will vote in the coming weeks on a $73,675 contract with Sinclair Hille to do the study on space needs as well as any needed mechanical or structural upgrades to the 23-year-old building.

The county built the center, 1200 Radcliff St., in 2001 to hold young people facing or convicted of criminal charges in juvenile or adult court after outgrowing the space they had been using.

Several years ago the county moved the emergency management center to a portion of the building and in 2019, the county began leasing space to the state to house some young people after state facilities in Geneva and Kearney closed.

County Commissioner Christa Yoakum said the number of young people the county is housing there is up a little, but the issue is more about how the space is used. For instance, she said, the way young people are classified means some young people can’t be housed together.

Young people in different gangs, for instance, can’t be housed together, or those facing more serious charges may need to be separated from others. The number of young people facing charges in adult court also has increased, and they are staying for longer periods. There’s also a big reception area that could be used for other purposes.

The study also will look at the condition of the building and its mechanical systems, as well as compliance with codes and ADA requirements.