LINCOLN — Former Gov. Dave Heineman joined a coalition of farm and business groups who called Thursday for the defeat of a $369 million bond issue for Southeast Community College that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.
The college, which serves 15 counties in southeast Nebraska, says it needs the funds to renovate and replace aging classrooms at its campuses in east Lincoln, Beatrice and Milford, and to establish a new college campus near downtown Lincoln.
But a new coalition called Vote No 369 rallied at the State Capitol to urge voters to reject the multi-year bond issue, which would raise property taxes for the owner of a $100,000 home by $39 a year.
Heineman, in a statement, said that property taxes are already too high in Nebraska for homeowners, farmers and businesses to bear another increase.
“The economy is sluggish. Commodity prices and cattle prices are down,” the former governor said. “Southeast Community College is a good school, but now is not the time for a $369 million increase in property taxes.”
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Paul Illich, president of the college, said he appreciates that Heineman and others acknowledge the good work of the school, but the reality is that most of Southeast’s structures consist of borrowed buildings that were often not designed as classrooms.
Southeast, Illich said, has the lowest property tax levy among the community colleges in the state but needs new classroom space to address the lack of qualified technical workers in Nebraska and the need for affordable education.
Also, there are waiting lists for some nursing and welding programs that would be addressed by the bond issue, he said.
There is a group supporting the bond issue, the Friends of Southeast Community College.
Members of the Vote No 369 group include State Sens. Laura Ebke of Crete, Jerry Johnson of Wahoo and Dan Watermeier of Syracuse. Organizations opposing the bond issue include the Lincoln Independent Business Association, the Nebraska Farm Bureau, the Nebraska Cattlemen and the Nebraska Soybean Association.
paul.hammel@owh.com, 402-473-9584