Additional powers for certain SIDs proposed

The Urban Affairs Committee heard testimony Feb. 10 on a bill that would provide additional powers for certain sanitary and improvement districts (SIDs) in Nebraska.

Norfolk Sen. Jim Scheer, sponsor of LB197, 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.

“We’re not looking for police powers,” he said, “but just some [powers] that we would call regular maintenance powers.”

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.

Scheer said it was important to note that LB197 would not allow SIDs to expand their powers unilaterally. Any additional powers allowed by the bill would have to be approved by a city council or village board within whose zoning jurisdiction the SID is located.

In order to qualify for the additional powers, an 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.

Lynn Rex of the League of Nebraska Municipalities testified in support of the bill, saying at least two SIDs near Norfolk could be helped by LB197. The SIDs, the city of Norfolk and the county involved have negotiated a solution, she said, but lack a legal remedy.

“They’ve worked hard to try and come up with a consensus on how to solve this,” Rex said. “This is a compromise that has been in the making for a long time.”

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