Additional powers for certain SIDs proposed

The Urban Affairs Committee heard testimony Jan. 28 on a bill that would provide additional powers for certain sanitary and improvement districts (SIDs) in Nebraska.

Norfolk Sen. Jim Scheer, sponsor of LB968, said the bill would apply when an SID is too close to a municipality to incorporate, yet too far away from a municipality to be annexed. He said the bill would allow a qualifying SID to provide the sort of services that those who live within a municipality take for granted.

“This is about trying to have normal conveniences and enforcement of what you’d expect in a neighborhood,” Scheer said.

In order to qualify for the additional powers, the SID would have to be:
• located in a county with a population between 5,000 and 8,000;
• located in a different county than the county of the municipality within whose zoning jurisdiction the SID is located;
• unable to incorporate due to its close proximity to a municipality; and
• unable to be annexed by a municipality with zoning jurisdiction because the SID is not adjacent or contiguous to such municipality.

Scheer said he would offer an amendment that also would require county approval for a qualifying SID to have any of the additional powers authorized in the bill.

Subject to approval by a city council or village board within whose zoning jurisdiction it is located, a qualifying SID would have the power to regulate:
• licensure of dogs and other animals;
• parking of abandoned vehicles;
• streets and sidewalks, including removal of obstructions and encroachments; and
• parking on public roads and rights of way relating to snow removal and access by emergency vehicles.

Lynn Rex of the League of Nebraska Municipalities testified in support of the bill. She said SIDs have limited authority in statute because they were not intended to be permanently independent.

“SIDs clearly were legally structured so that they would ultimately be part of a city,” Rex said. An SID that would qualify under the bill would be rare, she said, and would require a unique solution to allow for limited powers.

No one testified in opposition and the committee took no immediate action on the bill.