(A) The city is hereby empowered to receive money or property by donation, bequest, gift, devise, or otherwise for the benefit of one or more of the public purposes for which sinking funds are established by this section, as stipulated by the donor. Title to any money or property so donated shall vest in the City Council, or in its successors in office, who shall become the owners thereof in trust to the uses of the sinking fund or funds. In the event of a donation of real estate, the City Council may manage such real estate as in the case of real estate donated to the city for city library purposes under the provisions of Neb. RS 51-215 and 51-216.
(B) The City Council, subject to all the limitation set forth in this section, shall have the power to levy a tax of not to exceed $0.105 on each $100 in any one year upon the taxable value of all the taxable property within the city for a term not to exceed ten years. In addition to the amount of tax which may be annually levied for the purposes of the adopted budget statement the city, for the purpose of establishing a sinking fund for the construction, purchase, improvement, extension, original equipment, or repair, not including maintenance, of any one or more of the following public improvements, including acquisition of any land incident to the making thereof: city libraries; city auditoriums or community houses for social or recreational purposes; city halls; city public libraries, auditoriums, or community houses in a single building; city swimming pools; city jails; city fire stations, together with firefighting equipment or apparatus; city parks; city cemeteries; city medical buildings, together with furnishings and equipment; or city hospitals. The city shall not be authorized to levy the tax or to establish the sinking fund as provided in this division if, having bonded indebtedness, such city has been in default in the payment of interest thereon or principal thereof for a period of ten years prior to the date of the passage of the resolution providing for the submission of the proposition for establishment of the sinking fund as required in division (C).
(C) Before any sinking fund or funds are established or before any annual tax is levied for any such planned city improvements mentioned in division (B) by the city, the City Council shall declare its purpose by resolution to submit to the qualified electors of the city at the next general city election the proposition to provide the city with the specific city improvement planned under this section. The resolution of submission shall, among other things, set forth a clear description of the improvement planned, the estimated cost according to the prevailing costs, the amount of annual levy over a definite period of years, not exceeding ten years, required to provide such cost, and the specific name or designation for the sinking fund sought to be established to carry out the planned improvement, together with a statement of the proposition for placement upon the ballot at the election. Notice of the submission of the proposition, together with a copy of the official ballot containing the proposition, shall be published in its entirety three successive weeks before the day of the election in a legal newspaper in or of general circulation in the city or, if no legal newspaper is in or of general circulation in the city, in a legal newspaper in or of general circulation in the county in which the city is located. No such sinking fund shall be established unless the same has been authorized by a majority or more of the legal votes of the city cast for or against the proposition. If less than a majority of the legal votes favor the establishment of the sinking fund, the planned improvement shall not be made, no annual tax shall be levied therefore, and no sinking fund or sinking funds shall be established in connection therewith, but such resolution of submission shall immediately be repealed. If the proposition shall carry at such election in the manner prescribed in this division, the City Council and its successors in office shall proceed to do all things authorized under such resolution of submission but never inconsistent with this section. The election provided for under this section shall be conducted as provided under the Election Act.
(D) All funds received by the City Treasurer, by donation or by tax levy, as hereinbefore provided, shall, as they accumulate, be immediately invested by the Treasurer, with the written approval of the City Council, in the manner provided in Neb. RS 17-540. Whenever investments of such sinking fund or funds are made, as aforesaid, the nature and character of the same shall be reported to the City Council, and the investment report shall be made a matter of record by the City Clerk in the proceedings of the City Council. The sinking fund, or sinking funds, accumulated under the provisions of this section, shall constitute a special fund, or funds, for the purpose or purposes for which the same was authorized and shall not be used for any other purpose unless authorized by 60% of the qualified electors of the city voting at a general election favoring such change in the use of the sinking fund or sinking funds. The question of the change in the use of the sinking fund or sinking funds, when it fails to carry, shall not be resubmitted in substance for a period of one year from and after the date of such election.
(1990 Code, § 1-819) (Ord. 846, passed 1-7-2020)
Statutory reference:
Related state law provisions, see Neb. RS 17-702, 77-2337