Grand Island Mayor Roger Steele speaks at an NDOT groundbreaking ceremony (NDOT, courtesy)
GRAND ISLAND – Community leaders who supported the Good Life economic development program expressed their joy at voters’ approval of the program on the evening of Aug. 13.
The Hall County Elections Supervisor’s Office released the unofficial results within an hour of the voting deadline at 5 p.m. on August 13. 5,044 people voted for the program and 2,415 people voted against it.
Mayor Roger Steele said Grand Island is the first community in the state to have a Good Life program approved, one of only five available in the state through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
“The state is cutting its sales tax in half. The state is charging 5.5 percent sales tax,” Steele said. “Under this Good Life District, the state will charge 2.75 percent sales tax.”
“It sounds complicated, but it’s not,” Steele said. “The City Council has to pass an ordinance that calls for the creation of a Good Life program. The beauty of the Good Life program is that the City Council will decide how the money is spent. We will look for development ideas.”
The money must be spent within the Good Life District geographic area,” Steele said.
He noted that Woodsonia Real Estate of Elkhorn has submitted a proposal and additional proposals are being sought.
Steele said there will be “complete transparency” about how the money is spent, with decisions being made during public city council meetings.
“Development ideas will be presented to the council in the near future. The next step is for the city council to pass an ordinance on how we deal with this,” Steele said.
He noted that time is of the essence in getting the program approved as quickly as possible since the state will begin cutting sales taxes in half on October 1.
“Thank you to everyone who took the time to educate the public about the program,” Steele said.
City Administrator Laura McAloon said, “This is an incredibly exciting time for Grand Island. I look forward to working with the City Council to develop a new economic development program that will position our city for transformative growth over the next 30 years.”
Tonja Brown is the implementation manager for the Grow Grand Island Area Partnership and has held a leadership position in public education programs for the district’s Good Life program.
“We are of course delighted with the overwhelming election result and look forward to the city adopting the economic development program and starting the process. The state has thus created a revenue opportunity for 30 years and Grand Island is pleased to play a pioneering role in the transformation projects for the state of Nebraska.”
Cindy Johnson is a former long-time president of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce and was involved in promoting the Good Life District economic development program.
“There are pivotal moments in the growth and development of a community. Today, Grand Island voters recognized the tremendous opportunity presented by the Nebraska Legislature with the Good Life District Economic Development Program. Only five communities will be able to receive half the state’s share of property taxes for up to 30 years to undertake transformative projects,” Johnson said.
“Grand Island leaders work tirelessly to keep our community at the forefront of the minds of elected officials and city leaders. Grand Island’s designation as a Good Life District speaks volumes about how we are perceived,” Johnson said.
