After a whopping 23% average increase in Lincoln homeowners' property valuations last year, more than 50,000 homeowners saw another increase this year, though it was generally smaller than last year's.
The Lancaster County Assessor’s Office usually does a total revaluation of property one year, followed the next couple of years by increases based primarily on growth — or new property. However, because of the volatile market, the assessor is now looking at sales each year to adjust homes to the market rate.
The assessor’s office said that this year it looked at neighborhoods with lots of sales activity and adjusted valuations accordingly, which resulted in an average increase of 5-7%.
Bill would protect Tesla
After a court ruling in Delaware last year highlighted a loophole in roughly a dozen states' laws that excluded Tesla and other direct-to-consumer auto sellers from the legal definition of car manufacturers, industry groups in Nebraska set out to update the Cornhusker State's law accordingly.
Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln introduced a bill meant to do just that — redefining auto manufacturers to include car makers that sell their product directly to consumers.
But Bosn's bill would have barred Tesla from operating a service center it has already opened in Lincoln, prompting Tesla owners, an employee and the company's lobbyist to oppose the bill.
Stakeholders on all sides have since worked together to draft an amendment to the bill that would allow Tesla and other start-up car makers to service the cars they sell directly to consumers, clearing up the legal gray area under which Tesla opened its Lincoln service center.
Trail files appeal
Aubrey Trail, who chose not to go through with a state court appeal of his death sentence for the killing and dismemberment of Sydney Loofe, has gone forward instead with a federal challenge.
In it, his federal public defenders out of Kansas City, Missouri, raised two dozen claims, among them that the sentence is cruel and unusual because he is severely mentally ill and his previous counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the issue.
That’s it for Monday, Feb. 12. Stay in the know with Lincoln’s longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com and we’ll see you back here on Monday.
