The Fremont City Council has voted to place two questions on the ballot for the primary election on Tuesday, May 13. The first question is whether the proposed Local Option Economic Plan shall be approved and the second question is whether the City shall continue the Half Cent Sales Tax. The proposed Local Option Economic Plan can be found at http://www.fremontne.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2749
There are four possible outcomes of the election depending on the results of the two questions.
1. If both the local option economic plan and sales tax continuance are approved the revenue from the half cent sales tax would be divided into equal thirds. One third would be restricted funds to be used for public safety. One third would be restricted funds to be used for streets. One third would be restricted funds to be used for items authorized by the new local option economic development plan.
2. If the new local option economic plan is not approved, but sales tax continuance was to be approved, the revenue from the sales tax would be divided in half. One half of the revenue would be restricted funds to be used for public safety. One half of the revenue would be restricted funds to be used for streets. None of the funds would be used for the new local option economic plan as it would not be in effect.
3. If the new local option economic plan is approved and the sales tax continuance is not approved there would not be any revenue to fund the plan so the plan would not be put into place.
4. If both the new local option economic plan and the sales tax continuance are not approved then neither will go into effect.
The current local option economic plan, commonly referred to as the LB840 plan does not allow for the local option economic plan (LB 840) restricted funds to be used for:
* New Fire Pumper Truck, EMT Vehicle and Other Equipment
* More Than 20 Police Vehicles
* Training and Equipment for Public Safety
* Uniformed Officers Salaries
Neither the current LB 840 plan nor the new proposed plan would allow for the portion of the restricted funds collected for the local option economic plan to be used for these purposes.