The Mayor is asking for your help!  I am not a huge fan of on-line surveys, but Mayor Chris Beutler has placed a great deal of importance on a new survey, so I encourage you to provide feedback on the budget crisis.

The City of Lincoln is once again wrestling with a shortfall in its General Fund budget.  As you may know, these General Funds come from Property Taxes, Sales Taxes, and Fees paid for services.

Included in this survey are funds critical for continuance of Lincoln’s Economic Development and business retention activities.  Your responses will also help determine the future of Lincoln’s Property Tax levy and level of community services.

Just visit www.lincoln.ne.gov and click on the “Taking Charge Public Budget Survey” link to share your thoughts with City leaders.

I encourage you to support Economic Development and growth with your responses.  Only through growth can we continue to keep our community’s tax burden at reasonable levels and continue to fund identified priorities like Public Safety and Economic Development.

Changing topics, I am proud to announce that our efforts for CIR reform have been successful.  The CIR reform bill passed on a unanimous vote.

The agreement includes several changes to how the CIR currently operates that will give government entities much more authority to manage their budgets and control costs while still being fair to our local government employees.

Although there are aspects of the agreement that could have been better, great strides have been made in achieving significant CIR reform.  In addition, LIBA applauds the Legislature for agreeing to conduct an upcoming Interim Study on Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution retirement plans in the State of Nebraska.

The LIBA Board of Directors is also pleased that earlier this week, the Governor signed the roads funding bill that will provide future road funds for the state and city of Lincoln.

This year, LIBA selected these two legislative bills to support.  I want to thank all the LIBA members and readers of this column who contacted their State Senators and encouraged them to vote for these bills.

Finally, if you live in Northwest Lincoln, we will be hosting a free town-hall meeting (over lunch) with elected officials at Anderson Ford.  You do not have to be a LIBA member to attend.  For more information, call me at 402-466-3419.

If you are not a member of LIBA we would like to add your voice to our organization.  Business memberships are under $250 a year and individuals who believe in a conservative approach to government are also encouraged to join for only $100.  LIBA studies and promotes these types of issues that are important to businesses and our community.  If you have an interest in joining LIBA, please call me at 402-466-3419.

by Coby Mach, President & CEO
Lincoln Independent Business Association (LIBA)
http://liba.org/
402-466-3419