Sidney’s total sales tax burden is 1.5 cents.
In 1980, the voters passed a one-cent sales tax with the intention of providing property tax relief.
In 1988, the voters approved an additional half-cent sales tax for the Community & Economic Development Plan. To more clearly define the use of the funds, the voters - in 1997 and then again in 2007 - approved setting aside half of this half cents to the Job Creation Plan. (These votes approved a 10-year plan each time, so the current plan is through 2017.)
While these funds were created using a half cent and quarter cent as a base, the funds must be clearly defined by the city using a dollar amount. The Job Creation fund totals $300,000 a year and the Community & Economic Development Fund is set at $350,000.
For the Job Creation fund, $50,000 per year is allocated for improvements to the north side by the Northside Neighborhood Development Association and city council. The residents of that area are surveyed and asked to participate in town hall meetings to decide how the funds will be spent. Another $50,000 of this fund is allocated per year for downtown revitalization projects and is managed by the Sidney Historic Preservation Board. This board is a certified local government and is regulated by state law.
These processes have always been held in a public forum, and the public is encouraged to attend any and all meetings.
The remainder ($200,000) is allowed for providing financial assistance to qualifying businesses or to fund tourism-related activities.
There is a 14-page document available from the economic development office that clearly explains what type of program or project qualifies, what type of financial assistance is available, how applications are processed, and how the administrators of the plan are required to update city council on the status of ongoing projects.
It also outlines how funds can be invested when there aren’t any qualified applicants, and clearly states that after any continuous five full-budget years it is shown that less than 50 percent of the funds are spent or committed to programs or projects, the measure will be placed on the next regular election ballot to see if the voters continue to support the plan.
Of the $350,00 in the Community & Economic Development Fund, the following allocations are given:
$120,000 to the Community Center/Recreational Services
$55,000 to Economic Development
$66,576 for ambulance services
$15,000 to the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce
$10,000 for the fireworks display
$4,000 to Memorial Gardens
$79,424 to subsidize the swimming pool operation.
Any questions? I'll be happy to do more research. Drop me an e-mail at tamaranelsen@gmail.com
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Tamara Nelsen
Welcome to Nelsen For Council. This site is intended to be where the voters of Sidney can learn more about me as a candidate and my views on the issues. As a former editor of The Sun-Telegraph, and most recently a reporter for sidneystagecoach.com, I am the ideal candidate for council because of my knowledge of the community. For the past several years, I have reported on school board and county commissioner meetings, attending meetings of several political subdivisions such as the Sidney Historic Preservation board, the Sidney Historical Association, the fair board and city council. If I wasn’t covering an event, I was likely editing someone else’s report on it. That goes for community events in general. People will most likely recognize me as the lady with the camera, as I have had the privilege of being inside the ropes, front and center, for just about every major news event in Sidney recently. I have interviewed everyone from senators to a local woman who grew a batch of strange looking carrots.
Please feel free to contact me with your questions or comments by e-mailing tamaranelsen@gmail.com.
