Zoning › State preemptions › Nebraska

Nebraska LB 840 — Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act (Enabling Only) (NE)

Tracked preemption from the Nebraska overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1991-07-15
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:NE
Other Nebraska preemptions
Nebraska LB 614 (2025) — ETJ Farm-Building Exemption (Enabling)Nebraska LB 266 (2025) — Statewide Rent-Control PreemptionNebraska LB 866 (2020) — Municipal Density and Missing Middle Housing Act (Reporting + Action Plan)Nebraska §18-1758 (LB 57, 2019) — Short-Term Rental Partial PreemptionNebraska §19-904 — Manufactured Home Zoning ParityNebraska §§71-4603 et seq. — Manufactured Housing Act (Installer/Dealer Licensing)Offutt AFB AICUZ — Federal Military Airfield Compatible-Use Overlay (Bellevue / Sarpy County)Lincoln Capitol Environs District — State-Law Height Overlay
Primary-source summary
**Last reviewed**: April 2026 **Activity level**: **Low–Moderate** — Nebraska is a traditional **Dillon's Rule** state for most purposes, with zoning authority delegated by class of city through **Neb. Rev. Stat. §§19-901 et seq.** (municipal) and **§§23-114 et seq.** (county). Preemption is narrow and targeted: a long-standing **manufactured-housing parity** mandate (§19-904 for cities; §71-4603 et seq. for licensing of installers/dealers), a targeted **economic-development / housing authority** framework (LB 840 as ongoing enabling authority for local-option sales tax for housing and…

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

jurisdiction.type == city

Preempted fields

3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
local_option_economic_development_sales_taxenableup_to_0.5_pct_with_voter_approvalVoter-approved local-option sales tax up to 0.5% dedicated to economic-development purposes for up to 10 years (renewable)
local_option_economic_development_property_tax_levyenableup_to_15_cents_per_100_with_voter_approval
economic_development_program_required_artifactsrequire['plan', 'ordinance', 'citizen_advisory_review_committee']

Citation

Authority source
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§18-2701 to 18-2738 (Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act; originally LB 840, 1991)
§ Chapter 18, Article 27
https://law.justia.com/codes/nebraska/chapter-18/statute-18-2701/

Research notes

Enabling, NOT preempting — grants cities a financing tool; does not override local zoning. Economic-development purposes explicitly include housing activities (rehab loans/grants, workforce housing construction financing, land banking, infrastructure for housing sites, down-payment assistance). Active programs in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, Norfolk, North Platte, Columbus, Hastings, Scottsbluff, and many smaller communities. 'LB 840' is reused as a bill number across biennia; prefer the codified statute reference. Companion financing channels: §§71-1572 et seq. (Housing Authorities Law), Chapter 58 Article 1 (NIFA), §§18-2101 to 18-2154 (Community Development Law — TIF) — none preempt local zoning. Track in city records as an economic-development program note, not a state preemption.