LB653 LB653
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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 653
Introduced by Wayne, 13.
Read first time January 20, 2021
Committee: Urban Affairs
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Community Development Law; to amend
2 sections 18-2101, 18-2101.02, 18-2103, 18-2117.02, and 18-2119,
3 Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2020; to define a term; to
4 change provisions relating to the utilization of historically
5 underutilized businesses, reporting requirements, and redevelopment
6 contracts; to harmonize provisions; and to repeal the original
7 sections.
8 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 18-2101, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2 2020, is amended to read:
3 18-2101 Sections 18-2101 to 18-2155 and section 4 of this act shall
4 be known and may be cited as the Community Development Law.
5 Sec. 2. Section 18-2101.02, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
6 2020, is amended to read:
7 18-2101.02 (1) For any city that (a) intends to carry out a
8 redevelopment project which will involve the construction of workforce
9 housing in an extremely blighted area as authorized under subdivision
10 (29)(g) (28)(g) of section 18-2103, (b) intends to declare an area as an
11 extremely blighted area for purposes of funding decisions under
12 subdivision (1)(b) of section 58-708, or (c) intends to declare an area
13 as an extremely blighted area in order for individuals purchasing
14 residences in such area to qualify for the income tax credit authorized
15 in subsection (7) of section 77-2715.07, the governing body of such city
16 shall first declare, by resolution adopted after the public hearings
17 required under this section, such area to be an extremely blighted area.
18 (2) Prior to making such declaration, the governing body of the city
19 shall conduct or cause to be conducted a study or an analysis on whether
20 the area is extremely blighted and shall submit the question of whether
21 such area is extremely blighted to the planning commission or board of
22 the city for its review and recommendation. The planning commission or
23 board shall hold a public hearing on the question after giving notice of
24 the hearing as provided in section 18-2115.01. The planning commission or
25 board shall submit its written recommendations to the governing body of
26 the city within thirty days after the public hearing.
27 (3) Upon receipt of the recommendations of the planning commission
28 or board, or if no recommendations are received within thirty days after
29 the public hearing required under subsection (2) of this section, the
30 governing body shall hold a public hearing on the question of whether the
31 area is extremely blighted after giving notice of the hearing as provided
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1 in section 18-2115.01. At the public hearing, all interested parties
2 shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to express their views
3 respecting the proposed declaration. After such hearing, the governing
4 body of the city may make its declaration.
5 (4) Copies of each study or analysis conducted pursuant to
6 subsection (2) of this section shall be posted on the city's public web
7 site or made available for public inspection at a location designated by
8 the city.
9 (5) The study or analysis required under subsection (2) of this
10 section may be conducted in conjunction with the study or analysis
11 required under section 18-2109. The hearings required under this section
12 may be held in conjunction with the hearings required under section
13 18-2109.
14 Sec. 3. Section 18-2103, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
15 2020, is amended to read:
16 18-2103 For purposes of the Community Development Law, unless the
17 context otherwise requires:
18 (1) Area of operation means and includes the area within the
19 corporate limits of the city and such land outside the city as may come
20 within the purview of sections 18-2123 and 18-2123.01;
21 (2) Authority means any community redevelopment authority created
22 pursuant to section 18-2102.01 and any community development agency
23 created pursuant to section 18-2101.01 and does not include a limited
24 community redevelopment authority;
25 (3) Blighted area means an area (a) which, by reason of the presence
26 of a substantial number of deteriorated or deteriorating structures,
27 existence of defective or inadequate street layout, faulty lot layout in
28 relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness, insanitary or
29 unsafe conditions, deterioration of site or other improvements, diversity
30 of ownership, tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair
31 value of the land, defective or unusual conditions of title, improper
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1 subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of conditions which
2 endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of
3 such factors, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the
4 community, retards the provision of housing accommodations, or
5 constitutes an economic or social liability and is detrimental to the
6 public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and
7 use and (b) in which there is at least one of the following conditions:
8 (i) Unemployment in the designated area is at least one hundred twenty
9 percent of the state or national average; (ii) the average age of the
10 residential or commercial units in the area is at least forty years;
11 (iii) more than half of the plotted and subdivided property in an area is
12 unimproved land that has been within the city for forty years and has
13 remained unimproved during that time; (iv) the per capita income of the
14 area is lower than the average per capita income of the city or village
15 in which the area is designated; or (v) the area has had either stable or
16 decreasing population based on the last two decennial censuses. In no
17 event shall a city of the metropolitan, primary, or first class designate
18 more than thirty-five percent of the city as blighted, a city of the
19 second class shall not designate an area larger than fifty percent of the
20 city as blighted, and a village shall not designate an area larger than
21 one hundred percent of the village as blighted. A redevelopment project
22 involving a formerly used defense site as authorized under section
23 18-2123.01 shall not count towards the percentage limitations contained
24 in this subdivision;
25 (4) Bonds means any bonds, including refunding bonds, notes, interim
26 certificates, debentures, or other obligations issued pursuant to the
27 Community Development Law except for bonds issued pursuant to section
28 18-2142.04;
29 (5) Business means any private business located in an enhanced
30 employment area;
31 (6) City means any city or incorporated village in the state;
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1 (7) Clerk means the clerk of the city or village;
2 (8) Community redevelopment area means a substandard and blighted
3 area which the community redevelopment authority designates as
4 appropriate for a redevelopment project;
5 (9) Employee means a person employed at a business as a result of a
6 redevelopment project;
7 (10) Employer-provided health benefit means any item paid for by the
8 employer in total or in part that aids in the cost of health care
9 services, including, but not limited to, health insurance, health savings
10 accounts, and employer reimbursement of health care costs;
11 (11) Enhanced employment area means an area not exceeding six
12 hundred acres (a) within a community redevelopment area which is
13 designated by an authority as eligible for the imposition of an
14 occupation tax or (b) not within a community redevelopment area as may be
15 designated under section 18-2142.04;
16 (12) Equivalent employees means the number of employees computed by
17 (a) dividing the total hours to be paid in a year by (b) the product of
18 forty times the number of weeks in a year;
19 (13) Extremely blighted area means a substandard and blighted area
20 in which: (a) The average rate of unemployment in the area during the
21 period covered by the most recent federal decennial census or American
22 Community Survey 5-Year Estimate is at least two hundred percent of the
23 average rate of unemployment in the state during the same period; and (b)
24 the average poverty rate in the area exceeds twenty percent for the total
25 federal census tract or tracts or federal census block group or block
26 groups in the area;
27 (14) Federal government means the United States of America, or any
28 agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States
29 of America;
30 (15) Governing body or local governing body means the city council,
31 board of trustees, or other legislative body charged with governing the
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1 municipality;
2 (16)(a) Historically underutilized business or HUB means any person
3 or business with its principal place of business located in this state
4 that is:
5 (i) A participant in the United States Department of
6 Transportation's disadvantaged business enterprise program and that
7 adheres to the requirements and guidance contained in 49 C.F.R. part 26,
8 Participation By Disadvantaged Business Enterprises In Department of
9 Transportation Financial Assistance Programs, as such part existed on
10 January 1, 2021;
11 (ii) A contractor, including a building constructor or heavy and
12 civil engineering constructor as described in subsectors 236 and 237,
13 respectively, of the North American Industry Classification System whose
14 average annual gross receipts from the past three years do not exceed the
15 size standard of XX million dollars or the size standard in number of
16 employees, twenty-five percent of the North American Industry
17 Classification System for those subsectors of the North American Industry
18 Classification System as published in the current United States Small
19 Business Administration Table of Small Business Size Standards matched to
20 the North American Industry Classification System subsectors;
21 (iii) A specialty trade contractor as described in subsector 238 of
22 the North American Industry Classification System whose average annual
23 gross receipts from the past three years do not exceed the size standard
24 of XX million dollars or the size standard in number of employees,
25 twenty-five percent of the North American Industry Classification System
26 for those subsectors of the North American Industry Classification System
27 as published in the current United States Small Business Administration
28 Table of Small Business Size Standards matched to the North American
29 Industry Classification System subsectors; or
30 (iv) An entity whose average annual gross receipts from the past
31 three years do not exceed the size standard of XX million dollars or the
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1 size standard in number of employees, twenty-five percent of the North
2 American Industry Classification System as published in the current
3 United States Small Business Administration Table of Small Business
4 Standards matched to the North American Industry Classification System
5 subsectors; and that is not an affiliate or subsidiary of a business in
6 its field of operation; and
7 (b) HUB cannot be:
8 (i) A manufacturer's representative; a franchise, unless operating
9 as an independent entrepreneur utilizing a franchise name only; a
10 business for which the owner is an owner or part owner of another similar
11 business; or a non-stocking retailer or wholesaler; or
12 (ii) An entity whose owners:
13 (A) Have a net worth more than the sum of one million five hundred
14 thousand dollars after excluding the equity of the individual or
15 individuals in the business seeking certification and such individual's
16 equity in their primary residences; or
17 (B) Hold more than ten percent ownership in any other single
18 business, unless the other business is a HUB;
19 (17) (16) Limited community redevelopment authority means a
20 community redevelopment authority created pursuant to section 18-2102.01
21 having only one single specific limited pilot project authorized;
22 (18) (17) Mayor means the mayor of the city or chairperson of the
23 board of trustees of the village;
24 (19) (18) New investment means the value of improvements to real
25 estate made in an enhanced employment area by a developer or a business;
26 (20) (19) Number of new employees means the number of equivalent
27 employees that are employed at a business as a result of the
28 redevelopment project during a year that are in excess of the number of
29 equivalent employees during the year immediately prior to the year that a
30 redevelopment plan is adopted;
31 (21) (20) Obligee means any bondholder, agent, or trustee for any
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1 bondholder, or lessor demising to any authority, established pursuant to
2 section 18-2102.01, property used in connection with a redevelopment
3 project, or any assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any
4 part thereof, and the federal government when it is a party to any
5 contract with such authority;
6 (22) (21) Occupation tax means a tax imposed under section
7 18-2142.02;
8 (23) (22) Person means any individual, firm, partnership, limited
9 liability company, corporation, company, association, joint-stock
10 association, or body politic and includes any trustee, receiver,
11 assignee, or other similar representative thereof;
12 (24) (23) Public body means the state or any municipality, county,
13 township, board, commission, authority, district, or other political
14 subdivision or public body of the state;
15 (25) (24) Real property means all lands, including improvements and
16 fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto, or used
17 in connection therewith, and every estate, interest and right, legal or
18 equitable, therein, including terms for years and liens by way of
19 judgment, mortgage, or otherwise, and the indebtedness secured by such
20 liens;
21 (26) (25) Redeveloper means any person, partnership, or public or
22 private corporation or agency which enters or proposes to enter into a
23 redevelopment contract;
24 (27) (26) Redevelopment contract means a contract entered into
25 between an authority and a redeveloper for the redevelopment of an area
26 in conformity with a redevelopment plan;
27 (28) (27) Redevelopment plan means a plan, as it exists from time to
28 time for one or more community rede