LIBA Board Votes to Take Neutral Position on 2020 LPS Bond Issue

The Lincoln Independent Business Association’s (LIBA) Board of Directors met on Thursday, December 12 and discussed the upcoming Lincoln Public Schools bond issue that will be considered by voters during a special election on February 11, 2020.

During the discussion, there was not a consensus to either support or oppose the bond issue. As a result, the LIBA Board has chosen to remain
neutral on the bond issue at this time.

LIBA has supported the previous two bond issues in 2006 and 2014, but had concerns about the size and scope of this particular bond, especially as property values in Lincoln continue to increase. In November of this year, the Board sent a letter to the Lincoln School Board requesting that three provisions be included in the ballot language to protect taxpayers in the event of property valuation increases and/or bond refinancing.

Those three points were:

If Lincoln’s property tax valuations increase, the bond levy will decrease in accordance with the exact amount needed to satisfy the principal and the interest on the bond at issue.
If any maturity of the 2020 bond is refinanced, any refinancing that results in a lower interest rate will also result in a correlating reduction in levy needed to satisfy the principal and interest on the bond.
All refinancing must result in an overall lower bond levy and be done with the best interests of the taxpayer in mind.

These provisions were ultimately not included in the ballot language, but LIBA hopes that the School Board will be willing to abide by these principles going forward, even if they are not part of the official language.

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