By Russ Pankonin
    The Imperial Republican
     The budget proposed by the Upper Republican Natural Resource District (URNRD) will seek the full 10 cents in levy allowed to pay off bonds for surface water purchases.
     Next Tuesday, Sept. 4, the URNRD board will hold its annual budget hearing, beginning at 7:30 p.m., to consider the 2007-08 budget and additional levy for surface water purchases.
     The authority to seek up to an additional levy of 10-cents per $100 of valuation was granted under LB 701, passed this spring by the Legislature.
     The bill also included provisions to charge an occupation tax of up to $10 per irrigated acre in the Republican Basin. This fee would also be used to pay for surface water purchases.
     The board is also expected to address the amount of a per-acre fee to be assessed for this year's surface water purchases.
    Bonds a factor in levy request
     URNRD Board Member Tom Terryberry of Imperial said Tuesday that factors in selling the bonds to pay for the surface water purchase affected the levy request.
     He said the bond rating would be improved by showing that the bonds could be paid for entirely over a three-year period with the 10-cent levy over the same period.
     During the formation of LB 701, the bonding firm had no history on rating a bond based on a per-acre occupation tax. As a result, a levy up to 10 cents was added on to the bill.
     Without the levy authority backing the bond, the interest rate on the bonds would have likely been unaffordable, or made the project unbondable.
     Terryberry said the board is looking at a per-acre fee of be­tween $5.50-6.50. This would generate enough money to pay for about two-thirds of the URNRD surface water commitment, with the balance coming from property tax levy.
     Terryberry said in the future, once bond history is established on collecting the per-acre fee, the occupation fee can be used to fully fund surface water purchases.
     However, with no history, the board had no choice but to ask for the full 10-cent levy, which if levied for three years, would pay the NRD's share of the bonds.
     The URNRD is responsible for 44 percent of the approximately $9 million paid this year to purchase surface water.
     The property tax levy and per-acre fee will show up on the tax statements that are due in 2008, half in May, half in September.
    Other agenda items
     The board will also hear an update on negotiations between the board's negotiation committee and Department of Natural Resources on an allocation for the next integrated management plan.
     Whether the committee will be able to forward a recommendation to the board next week will depend on further negotiations between now and then.
     The board's building committee will open bids for a proposed new building Friday.
     The committee will inform the board on the results of the bid opening and the board will likely discuss whether or not to proceed with the project.