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Grand Island says it has money for Nebraska fair moveLINCOLN, Neb. (AP)--Grand Island officials say they'll have the money to pay their share of moving the Nebraska State Fair to their city. But they told state lawmakers at a hearing Aug. 15 that the city will have to enact a new tax. They'll also offer naming rights for a new fair building to lure a deep-pockets donor. Under a new law, the State Fair will move from its 107-year home in Lincoln to Grand Island by 2010. That will empty the current fairgrounds for development by the University of Nebraska. As part of the relocation plan, Grand Island will pay $8.5 million of the $42 million cost. The university will pitch in $20 million; the fair board, $7 million; and the state, $5 million. Grand Island's first payment of $3 million is due Oct. 1. Mayor Margaret Hornady on Aug. 15 told a legislative task force overseeing the fair's move that Hall County and its agriculture society have pledged $1 million toward the city's obligation. Much of the remaining bill should be paid for with a new occupation tax assessed on food served in the city, Hornady said. The tax, which the city council is set to approve, will likely be 2 percent and could generate $5 million to $6 million over the next several years, she said. The exact amount of tax revenue the city will put toward the fair depends on how much money a private group raises on Grand Island's behalf. Cindy Johnson, president of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, said the group has been authorized by the State Fair Board to name one of the buildings after a major donor. The results of those fundraising efforts should be known in September. Meanwhile, the fair board is moving ahead with plans for its new home at Fonner Park, while preparing for the start of the 2008 fair next week in Lincoln. "We're moving as fast as we can, but we're not getting much done," board President Jerry Fitzgerald told lawmakers. He said an engineer will survey the Grand Island site next week, and the board is working on conceptional drawings of the new buildings. Plans for the site include a 100,000-square-foot exhibit building, two smaller exhibit buildings, three livestock barns and an arena. University officials lobbied hard to get the current fairgrounds, which are next to the Lincoln campus. The university wants the land for a cluster of public research facilities that will attract high-tech companies capitalizing on university research. But the fair's upcoming move to Grand Island hasn't been without a few bumps. The law authorizing the move was the culmination of months of dealmaking between parties interested in having the fair, state officials and leaders of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After it was approved, a group called Fair Vote Nebraska began a petition drive to put the move on the November ballot. The group fell short of the roughly 60,000 signatures it needed to collect by July 16 to force a vote, but members vowed to continue fighting the fair's move. 9/1/08 Date: 8/27/08 Advertisement
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