Kearney council votes to place Good Life District authorization on May 12 ballot

The Kearney City Council voted to submit a ballot question to the May 12, 2026 primary that would authorize the council to adopt a Good Life District economic development program and to appropriate local sources of revenue remitted by the state for use inside the district.

Brenda Jensen, Kearney city manager, explained the ballot language and the program during the public hearing. Jensen said the Good Life District program, created in state law, is intended to "incentivize or... jump-start transformational projects" by returning a portion of sales-tax receipts to the city for eligible infrastructure and development expenses. She said the program is a 30-year authorization (approved in July 2025 and running toward July 2055 in the example discussed) and that the city would not use property-tax dollars for the program. "There's no new taxes," Jensen said. "If you're the customer... you're not even gonna know the difference." She described data sources the city would use to document out-of-state spending, including third-party tools such as Buxton or Placer and local hotel…