The Lincoln Independent Business Association (liba.org) is strongly in support of the proposed ETJ charter amendment. This petition drive is not an attack on City Hall. It merely is addressing a fundamental question of representative government.
Simply put, an ETJ is an area extending up to three miles beyond Lincoln’s city limits where the city exercises authority over development and future growth. The purpose is sensible. Coordinated planning helps prevent haphazard development, inadequate infrastructure and costly mistakes that could complicate future annexation and growth.
The issue is whether the residents who live within Lincoln’s ETJ should have any voice in the government that regulates them.
Lincoln’s ETJ is among the most expansive in Nebraska. Property owners within it are subject to city planning decisions, subdivision regulations, infrastructure requirements and development standards. In many respects, the city determines what landowners can and cannot do with their property.
Just as it does within city limits, Lincoln’s Planning Department and Building & Safety Department can approve or deny subdivision plats, determine how land may be divided and require compliance with the city’s comprehensive plan. Residents in the ETJ are also subject to building permits, inspections, construction standards, development regulations and the fees associated with those processes.
When a government exercises that much authority over citizens’ property and future development, it is reasonable to ask whether those citizens should also have a voice in selecting the officials who wield that authority.
Many residents in the ETJ work in Lincoln, shop in Lincoln, and contribute to the city’s economy through sales taxes. They rely on transportation infrastructure and decisions made by city officials. Many are also customers of Lincoln Electric System, a utility governed by a board appointed through a political process controlled by city leaders.
Critics argue that allowing ETJ residents to vote would create representation without taxation. But Nebraska law already recognizes situations where voting rights and tax obligations can be treated differently. Similar safeguards can be crafted for municipal issues where direct tax liability is the primary concern.
At its core, this petition drive recognizes a simple principle: when the government exercises meaningful power over citizens’ property, development, and future communities, those citizens deserve a voice in selecting the officials who exercise that power.
There is one final irony voters should consider. If this measure reaches the ballot, the very residents whose rights are at issue will have no voice in deciding it. The people living in Lincoln’s ETJ cannot vote for the officials who regulate them today, nor can they vote on whether that should change tomorrow.
Voting “Yes” is not about diminishing anyone’s rights. It is about correcting the significant inequity of regulation without representation and extending a fundamental democratic principle to thousands of Nebraskans who are already governed by decisions made at City Hall. It is a right that you undoubtedly would want if you lived in the ETJ.