On August 25th, 2008, the Hall County Agricultural Society has increased its property tax levy to raise $100,000 annually for State Fair improvements. The Hall County Board of Supervisors voted in a special meeting to change the ag society's levy at 0.007529, which improved from 0.004643 a year ago. That levy, which will cost around $7.53 on a $100,000 home, will produced $156,000 of operating expenses for the ag society, which manages the Hall County Fair. It also will produced $100,000 of real estate capital outlay funds, which will be allocated for improvements to the Fonner Park campus to help with the relocation of the Nebraska State Fair.
The Legislature decided earlier this year to relocate the Nebraska State Fair to Fonner Park by 2010. The State Fair's current property in Lincoln will become a part of the campus of the University of Nebraska for a research and development location. Only Supervisor Pam Lancaster voted against the increased in the tax levy for the ag organization. She commented that she would prefer using the earnings from the keno dollars for the State Fair improvements instead of increasing the property taxes.
The county allocated a total of $500,000 of keno funds for State Fair improvements from 2009 through 2014. The ag society had initially planned to allocate $200,000 yearly for the State Fair improvements but supervisors instead raise the ag society tax to raise half of the funds for the state fair with the other half coming from the keno proceeds. That keno cash will go directly to the ag society and was the subject of some concern during a special county board meeting because it will have a significant effect in the county's interlocal agreements.
Brad Fegley, the county budget consultant said that interlocal agreements are beneficial to governments in their calculations of spending limits decided by the Legislature. He added that the more interlocal agreements, the better. The county is currently paying $150,000 annually to the city for the Heartland Events Center but will end next year with a final payment of $100,000.
[14-09]
John Sullivan
