February 7, 2025
Sen. R. Brad von Gillern, Chairperson
Sen. Teresa Ibach
Sen. Mike Jacobson
Sen. Kathleen Kauth
Sen. Eliot Bostar
Sen. Dave Murman
Sen. George Dungan
Sen. Tony Sorrentino
Educational Service Unit (ESU) 18 submits this letter in opposition to LB 389 eliminating Educational Service Unit levying authority. ESU 18 provides Professional Learning, Technology Services, Library Services, and Assessment and Evaluation Services to the Lincoln Public Schools. In addition, ESU 18 provides 300 distance learning classes across the state, regional grant coordination for over 30 school districts serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing, early services to families of children birth to age 3 in the region, educational services to students located at the Lancaster County Youth Services Center, and a regional experience at a one-room schoolhouse related to the study of Nebraska history. ESUs are fiscally transparent and have an independent, external audit conducted annually. Annual Financial Reports or AFRs of each ESU are filed and publicly accessible annually, including archived reports of prior years, through the Nebraska Department of Education. The annual budget adoption of each ESU proceeds in full compliance with the Open Meetings Act and other publication and hearings requirements.
LB 389 essentially eliminates the levy authority and intends to replace the lost revenue with a state distribution plus 3.5% growth. The bill only addresses one element of funding for ESU and will have detrimental impact on the state funding to ESUs resulting in a net loss. Funds distributed from the state through core service and technology infrastructure funds are equalized with a local effort rate of $0.0135. As valuation grows greater than 3.5% ESUs will experience a drop in state funding that will not be able to be made up under the provisions in LB 389.
ESU 18 requests that you not advance LB 389 due to the negative impact on ESUs and consequently services to students across the state.
Sincerely,
Liz Standish
Treasurer
Educational Service Unit 18
