Mayor G. Keith Richardson
Amendment 1 is very important to the city of North Platte, as the city has an endowment fund that would be affected.
John Newburn, who died in 1987, left his property to the city and requested that the money be used for park improvements so children can continue to enjoy them. Newburn Funds are invested in treasury bonds with a 5 percent return.
The North Platte City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of Amendment 1, a proposal to amend the Nebraska Constitution.
I encourage you to get to the polls on May 13 and vote FOR Amendment 1, as this gives us an opportunity to reinvest the Newburn Funds in a mixed-stock investment, which could double the money available to make improvements in the city parks.
Amendment 1 has strict limitations that hold communities accountable for public endowment investments and puts safeguards in place to make sure those responsible are investing the public endowments wisely. Trustees who have a legal obligation to invest wisely to protect the funds would run investments. As an additional safeguard, the Nebraska Legislature will provide oversight.
Amendment 1 was unanimously approved in the Legislature’s last session.
If we care about the future of our communities, we should vote FOR Amendment 1, as it allows for not only safer investments, but investments that provide the possibility for a high yield. Under current constitutional restrictions, community endowments can only be invested in treasury bonds – or placed into savings accounts – which generally have an average annual return of 5 percent.
Amendment 1 would permit community endowments to invest in a diversified portfolio, an average return of 9 percent, almost double. In 20 years, that means a community endowment fund would have nearly 80 percent more money to put toward local services, and would have grown twice as fast than if it were invested under the current constitutional restrictions.
Again, I highly encourage everyone to vote FOR Amendment 1 on May 13, 2008.
