OMAHA-The proposed finance plan for Omaha’s streetcar system has drawn concerns from a Nebraska state senator and the superintendent of the Omaha Public Schools.

State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, chairman of the Urban Affairs Committee, shared his criticism on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature on Thursday, one day after Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert announced that Mutual of Omaha plans to build a downtown headquarters and the city intends to build a streetcar system.

Wayne expressed frustration with the use of tax-increment financing for the streetcar project.

He said he supports Mutual of Omaha moving its headquarters downtown but not the idea of declaring downtown as “extremely blighted.”

Under a constitutional amendment introduced by Wayne and approved by voters in 2020, the “extremely blighted” designation allows developers to qualify for TIF loans and have 20 years to pay them back, five years longer than TIF projects in other areas. He said the designation was intended to help redevelop areas with high unemployment and high poverty, such as his North Omaha district.

The streetcar financing plan, developed by a Greater Omaha Chamber committee and endorsed by Stothert, calls for various uses of TIF.

The cost of building and launching the streetcar system is estimated at $225 million. Stothert said federal guidelines call for a 35% contingency in case of unexpected costs, so the city would need to raise $306 million.

The city plans to extend the timeline of already existing TIF projects along the streetcar’s route from the current 15 years to 20. Those five additional years of payments would generate $50 million.

But Wayne said the five-year extension of TIF for extremely blighted areas “wasn’t to put up a streetcar in downtown Omaha.”

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