Nebraska

Decision instrument

State debt stops at $100,000, except for war, or for highway and water bonds authorized by three-fifths of the Legislature.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? Nebraska Constitution, Article XIII, Section 1. Casual deficits may not exceed $100,000 in the aggregate. A larger debt is allowed to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the state in war, and the interest must be provided for by a tax, or from other revenue, that cannot be repealed until the debt is paid. If three-fifths of the members elected to the Legislature so determine, the Legislature may authorize highway bonds and pledge tolls or highway-related revenue, such as fuel taxes or license fees, for the term of the bonds. The same three-fifths vote can authorize revenue bonds for water retention and impoundment structures, paid from revenue those structures produce. The university, the state colleges, and the State Board of Education may issue revenue bonds for housing, athletics, student unions, medical and activity buildings, and parking. Those bonds are payable only from the use of the buildings. Bonds for new construction must first be approved as the Legislature provides.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? State debt is in the annual report for the year ended June 30, 2025. County dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

A railroad or other internal-improvement bond of a county or city stops at 3.5% of taxable valuation. The question goes to the voters first.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? Neb. Rev. Stat. § 10-401. That door is for aiding a railroad or other work of internal improvement. It is not a cap on every county bond. Bonds issued to pay a county’s outstanding bonds and warrants, under § 10-501, use the same 3.5% and also go to the qualified electors. For highways, §§ 39-2202 and 39-2223 set the state’s own limit at $450 million. The report’s legal debt margin at June 30, 2025, was $349.5 million. Industrial and economic-development revenue bonds, under Article XIII, Section 2, do not become general obligations of the county or city.

Conflict rule

An officer may not have an interest in a contract of that body. Owning less than 5% of a corporation’s shares is not an interest.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 49-14,103.01 and 49-1408. The officer includes an elected county, school, city, or village official, and a member of a board that spends its own funds. The interest is a business association of the officer, a parent, a spouse, or a child, or a payment, fee, or commission from the contract. A business association includes being a partner, limited-liability-company member, director, or officer. It also includes closed-corporation stock of $1,000 or more, or more than 5%, and publicly traded stock of $10,000 or more, or more than 10%. The contract is voidable. It is not void on its own. The prohibition does not apply if the contract is an agenda item, the officer declares the interest on the record before the body considers it, and the officer does not vote or inspect the work. If enough members declare an interest that a quorum would be lost, all of them may vote.

Geography

Ninety-three counties.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? FIPS 31001 through 31185. Cities, villages, and other units also borrow. Dollar rows stay blank.

Primary money record

Highway revenue bond principal still to be paid: $91.3 million.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Annual report, June 30, 2025. Amounts in the note are in thousands. Remaining principal is $91,295,000. Remaining interest is $45,975,000. Bonds of $100,504,000 were issued in February 2025 at 3.63%. That issue amount is not the balance still owed. The state has no general obligation bonds on this schedule.

Who pays the coupon

Highway-user revenue. In fiscal 2026 the principal due is $2.2 million and the interest due is $5.9 million.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? The pledge is motor-fuel taxes, diesel taxes, alternative-fuel fees, and motor-vehicle registration fees the state keeps, other than fees credited to the State Recreation Road Fund, plus other highway-user taxes. The statute pledges $70 million a year. In fiscal 2025 that was about 69% of the transfers into the State Highway Capital Improvement Fund. That fund also pays for the expressway system and other priority projects. It is not all bond debt service. Fiscal 2026 principal and interest together are $8.1 million.

Other obligors

University and state-college bond principal: $1.173 billion. Do not add it to the $91.3 million.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? University of Nebraska, $1.070 billion. Nebraska state colleges, $103.5 million. Those issues are general obligations of the facilities corporations, which the report says are separate legal entities and are not subject to the state’s $100,000 limit. They are paid from housing, dining, student fees, and parking. In fiscal 2026 their principal due is $63.8 million and their interest due is $40.2 million. Interest still on their schedule is $728 million.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.