Lincoln council forms CFD for Joiner Ranch East, approves landowner election and calls bond authorization vote

The City of Lincoln City Council on Aug. 12 opened and closed a public hearing and adopted resolutions forming Community Facilities District (CFD) 2025-1 for the Joiner Ranch East project, approving a landowner election and calling a ballot on authorization of a special tax and the incurrence of bonded indebtedness not to exceed $23,500,000.

The action followed a staff presentation from bond counsel Brian Fortnath explaining that the 26-acre Joiner Ranch East development (198 residential units) is being developed by Jen California with D.R. Horton as the merchant builder. Fortnath said the developer expects to finance roughly $14.2 million in municipal facilities from the CFD and that the bonds to be issued will likely be in the $16–17 million range when brought for approval later this year. He said the special taxes were modeled to range “from approximately $3,400 annually for smaller homes to just over $4,000 annually for larger homes.”

Fortnath told council that because there are no residents yet within the project, the law requires a landowner election; ballots were mailed to landowners and returned to the city clerk. He also said the developer rescinded a request to include 10 years of PAYGo in the acquisition and funding agreement; council directed staff to incorporate that rescission into the acquisition agreement so the developer will not be entitled to PAYGo following bond issuance.

After receiving no public testimony, council voted to form the CFD, call elections on both the special tax and the bonded indebtedness, and later certified the election results after the city clerk reported the ballots showed approval by more than two-thirds. The council then introduced by title an ordinance authorizing the levy of the special tax in the CFD.

Councilmembers recorded their votes by roll call during the hearing. The council also approved a substantially final form of the acquisition and funding agreement, to be finalized with the technical amendment removing PAYGo entitlement before bonds are issued.

Why it matters: forming the CFD allows the city to help finance on-site infrastructure for the Joiner Ranch East subdivision through a special tax assessed on the new properties. That mechanism spreads the cost of public improvements across new property owners rather than through the city’s general fund.

Next steps: bond counsel said staff expects to return later this year (likely November–December) with a bond issuance package once terms are finalized.