In the recent primary election, Proposition 1 was supported by 77% of the voters. By voting Yes, voters approved the continuation of the Proposition 1 initiative initially endorsed in 2014. Prop 1 allows the City to set aside $750,000 annually to support economic development in the community.
Representatives for the City believe this was a big decision for the community – and one they are glad the voters support. “The City is very pleased that the voters overwhelmingly approved Prop 1 funding concerning LB840”, said Community Development Director Mark Elbert. “We are grateful for their support of this program. LB 840 allows us to provide incentive dollars to developers interested in bringing developments to our City. Simply put this makes our community more competitive with other communities throughout the country.”
The Greater Bellevue Area Chamber of Commerce helped spread the word about Prop 1 in the days leading up to the election. Chamber President and CEO Michelle Andahl believes this is a big win for Bellevue. “Since first passing in 2014, the City has set aside almost $4 million of sales tax collections to use specifically for economic development projects. They were recently able to use just over $3.4 million of those funds to secure a huge project for our City.”
Andahl also discussed the competitive nature of neighboring cities when trying to bring new development. “Many people don’t know that when the types of organizations we want in Bellevue are looking for new cities to grow in, those organizations require some partnering and buy-in from the cities. Bellevue didn’t have that ability for so many years and lost projects. With our current administration carefully budgeting and vetting good projects and the voters allowing them to continue doing so, Bellevue is positioned to be at the table and bring incredible economic development to our community, including high-paying jobs and economic stimulators. The Chamber of Commerce would like to thank everyone who voted “Yes” on Proposition No. 1 to keep a good thing going for Bellevue!”
