Nebraska § 77-1629 - County, city, or school district; budget process; joint public hearing; when held; required attendees; county clerk; report; contents.

§ 77-1629. County, city, or school district; budget process; joint public hearing; when held; required attendees; county clerk; report; contents.

(1) Each county and each city or school district levying a tax on property within a county shall participate in a joint public hearing. Each such political subdivision shall designate one representative to attend the joint public hearing on behalf of the political subdivision. If a political subdivision includes area in more than one county, the political subdivision shall be deemed to be within the county in which the political subdivision's principal headquarters are located. At such hearing, there shall be no items on the agenda other than discussion on each political subdivision's budget process and preliminary information on relevant data that would impact the political subdivision's budget in the current year.

(2) At least one voting member of the governing body of each participating political subdivision shall attend the joint public hearing. The county assessor of the county in which the joint public hearing is being held shall also attend the hearing. The presence of a quorum or the participation of elected officials at the joint public hearing does not constitute a meeting as defined by section 84-1409 of the Open Meetings Act.

(3) The joint public hearing shall be held on or after July 1 and prior to July 15 and before any of the participating political subdivisions file their adopted budget statement pursuant to section 13-508.

(4) The joint public hearing shall be held after 6 p.m. local time on the relevant date.

(5) The joint public hearing shall be organized by the county clerk or his or her designee. At the joint public hearing, the designated representative of each political subdivision shall give a brief presentation on the budget process, how the budget affects the property tax request, information about the prior year's budget and property tax request, and any preliminary information about factors that may affect the current year's budget as may be known to the political subdivision.

(6) Any member of the public shall be allowed to speak at the joint public hearing and shall be given a reasonable amount of time to do so.

(7)(a) After completion of the joint public hearing, the county clerk, or his or her designee, shall prepare a report which shall include:

(i) The name of each political subdivision that participated in the joint public hearing;

(ii) The names of the designated representatives of the political subdivisions participating in the joint public hearing;

(iii) The name and address of each individual who spoke at the joint public hearing, unless the address requirement is waived to protect the security of the individual, and the name of any organization represented by each such individual; and

(iv) The number of individuals who signed in to attend the joint public hearing.

(b) Such report shall be delivered to the political subdivisions participating in the joint public hearing within ten days after such hearing.