Registered
voters in the 15-county area of Southeast Community College will have the
opportunity to vote on a $369 million bond issue on Nov. 8.
SCC’s
Board of Governors, by a vote of 10-1, approved a resolution calling a bond
election in the SCC area. The vote took place Tuesday at the Beatrice Campus
during the Board’s regular monthly meeting. Board member Don Reiman voted
against the resolution.
More
than 1,000 people have heard information sessions conducted by SCC President Dr. Paul
Illich and fellow administrators since March, when the Board, at a special
meeting, voted to authorize Illich to prepare for the bond issue.
More
detailed information can be found at www.southeast.edu/bondissue2016.
Following
is the resolution:
Section 1. The Board of
Governors (the “Board”) of the Southeast Community College Area
(the
“College
Area”)
hereby finds and determines as follows:
“(a) It is necessary
for the proper management and operation of the College Area that funds be
provided for the purchase, construction, reconstruction, equipping, demolition,
and alteration of various properties, buildings, facilities and other capital
assets for the College Area, (collectively, the “Project”) which may include
the following:
•
Replacement,
renovation, and addition of facilities on the Beatrice Campus;
•
Replacement,
renovation, and addition of facilities on the Milford Campus;
•
Replacement,
renovation, and addition of facilities on the 8800 O Street Lincoln Campus;
•
Establishment
of a campus in or near downtown Lincoln; and
•
Construction
and acquisition of facilities for use as Learning Centers on various sites
within the College Area.
(b)
To pay the costs of the Project, it will be necessary for the College Area to issue
its general obligation bonds in an aggregate stated principal amount not to
exceed Three Hundred Sixty-nine Million Dollars ($369,000,000).
Section 2. An election (the “Election”) is hereby called
and shall be held in conjunction with the Statewide General Election in the
College Area on November 8, 2016, (the “Election Date”) at which election
there shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the College Area the
following proposition (the “Proposition”):
“Shall
the Southeast Community College Area, in the State of Nebraska, issue its
general obligation bonds in an aggregate stated principal amount not to exceed
Three Hundred Sixty-nine Million Dollars ($369,000,000), for the purpose of
providing funds for the purchase, construction, reconstruction, equipping,
demolition, and alteration of various properties, buildings, facilities and
other capital assets for the College Area, which may include the following: (1)
replacement, renovation, and addition of facilities on the Beatrice Campus; (2)
replacement, renovation, and addition of facilities on the Milford Campus; (3)
replacement, renovation, and addition of facilities on the 8800 O Street Lincoln
Campus; (4) establishment of a campus in or near downtown Lincoln; and (5) construction
and acquisition of facilities for use as Learning Centers on various sites within
the College Area; with such bonds to be issued from time to time, to bear
interest at such rate or rates, to be sold at such prices and to become due at
such time or times as may be fixed by, or determined at the direction of, the
Board of Governors of Southeast Community College Area; and “Shall the
Southeast Community College Area cause to be levied and collected annually a
special levy of taxes against all the taxable property in the College Area
sufficient in rate and amount to pay the principal of and interest on such
bonds as the same become due?”
The
ballots to be voted on and cast at the Election shall have printed thereon the foregoing
Proposition, with the words “FOR such Bonds and tax” and “AGAINST such Bonds
and tax” following the Proposition.
Qualified
electors voting in favor of the Proposition shall blacken the oval opposite the
words “FOR such Bonds and tax” following the Proposition, and qualified
electors voting against the Proposition shall blacken the oval opposite the
words “AGAINST such Bonds and tax” following the Proposition.
Section 3. The Election shall be conducted in
accordance with the Election Act (Chapter 32,
Reissue Revised
Statutes of Nebraska, as amended). Notice of the Election shall be published in
a newspaper of general circulation in each county within the boundaries of the
College Area at least 40 days prior to the Election Date by the Election
Commissioner of each county within the boundaries of the College Area (each, an
“Election
Commissioner”). A copy of the sample ballot shall be published one time not
more than ten days nor less than three days prior to the election, or as
otherwise provided by law, such notice and sample ballot to be published in
newspapers of general circulation in each County within the boundaries of the
College Area.
Section 4. The College Area President is hereby
authorized and directed to certify a copy of this Resolution not later than
September 1, 2016, to the Election Commissioner of each County within the boundaries
of the College Area, each of whom shall designate the polling places (if
appropriate), appoint the election officials and otherwise conduct the Election
as provided by law. The College Area hereby agrees to reimburse each Election
Commissioner for the expenses of conducting the Election in each county where
such Election is conducted.
Section 5. The form of ballot and form of notice for
the Election shall be in substantially the form attached to this Resolution as Attachment
I.
The College Area President is hereby authorized and directed in conjunction
with each Election Commissioner conducting the Election, to arrange for the printing
of the necessary ballots for such election and to do all other things and to
take all other appropriate or necessary action in order to cause such
proposition to be submitted to the qualified electors of the College Area as
above provided.
Section 6. The College Area President and Secretary
of the Board are hereby authorized and directed to take all further actions
necessary to comply with all publication and filing deadlines and other election
procedures and requirements as may be necessary or proper to submit the
Proposition to the qualified electors of the College Area on the Election Date.
The
official ballot question:
“Shall the Southeast
Community College Area, in the State of Nebraska, issue its general obligation
bonds in an aggregate stated principal amount not to exceed Three Hundred Sixty-nine
Million Dollars ($369,000,000), for the purpose of providing funds for the purchase,
construction, reconstruction, equipping, demolition, and alteration of various properties,
buildings, facilities and other capital assets for the College Area, which may include
the following: (1) replacement, renovation, and addition of facilities on the Beatrice
Campus; (2) replacement, renovation, and addition of facilities on the Milford Campus;
(3) replacement, renovation, and addition of facilities on the 8800 O Street Lincoln
Campus; (4) establishment of a campus in or near downtown Lincoln; and (5) construction
and acquisition of facilities for use as Learning Centers on various sites within
the College Area; with such bonds to be issued from time to time, to bear
interest at such rate or rates, to be sold at such prices and to become due at
such time or times as may be fixed by, or determined at the direction of, the
Board of Governors of Southeast Community College Area; and “Shall the Southeast
Community College Area cause to be levied and collected annually a special levy
of taxes against all the taxable property in the College Area sufficient in rate
and amount to pay the principal of and interest on such bonds as the same
become due?”