Nebraska — C-PACE state brief

Status and history

Omaha adopted its program in 2017, per the DOE-hosted transaction case study. Lincoln established the Greater Nebraska PACE District by Ordinance 20701 on August 27, 2018. These are local adoption milestones, not statewide launch dates. DOE case study, Lincoln manual.

Current responsible organizations and geography

• Omaha: Economic Development Division, City Planning Department; city program/manual links are on its current ONEBiz incentives page. That page lists commercial/industrial buildings, new construction and substantial rehabilitation, and says residential developments are ineligible. Do not silently broaden it to every multifamily project. Omaha official intake.
• Lincoln / GNPD: Mayor or designee is district administrator under the establishing ordinance. Current city page identifies Jim Kendrick, GNPD@lincoln.ne.gov, 531-500-7179. The program covers commercial, industrial and multifamily over four units within Lincoln's jurisdiction; it says retroactive financing is not allowed. Confirm boundary and project-specific rules in the manual. Lincoln program, manual.

Eligibility, consent, assessment and transfer

Current §13-3205 requires a recorded, acknowledged mortgage/trust-deed-holder consent and subordination agreement for commercial property, current secured debt/taxes, and other due diligence. The economic-benefit test can be waived by a municipality at the owner's request. Term is tied to weighted useful life. Contracts run with the land; third-party lenders may collect annual assessments directly if the contract provides. §13-3205.

2026 lien detail matters: for non-single-family property, delinquent annual assessments create the PACE lien; the municipality records notice and certifies delinquency. Subject to required consent/subordination, that lien has real-property-tax priority. The obligation continues with ownership transfer. The statute identifies LB1135, operative April 15, 2026. Do not paste a generic “entire loan is immediately a tax lien” explanation. §13-3206.

Typical local sequence: intake → eligibility and energy scope → lender/technical underwriting and consent → local assessment contract → funding/improvements → cost/completion certification → repayment. Lincoln's listed HVAC, controls, insulation, windows, lighting and water fixtures are useful screening categories, not automatic approval.

Known project

Local applicability, resilience and permits

Fremont adds a concrete local comparison: Ordinance 5517, adopted January 28, 2020, created its PACE district. Its 2020 manual limits participation to city limits, whereas the current city landing page and ordinance describe city limits plus extraterritorial jurisdiction. Resolve this geographic conflict before accepting an outside-city parcel. The current page requires new-build improvements to outperform code and retrofits to improve on replaced systems. Fremont current program, 2020 manual, Ordinance 5517.

Fremont's ordinance expressly requires properly permitted multifamily property with more than four units; do not substitute that rule for Omaha's more restrictive public description. Neither Nebraska's weather nor a flood-prone parcel establishes standalone resilience eligibility. Verify the energy/water nexus, current local manual, April 2026 statutory amendments, floodplain/building permits and code baseline with the local authority. Other documented local entry points include York, district approved November 3, 2022, Norfolk, Beatrice and Papillion; their individual terms remain to be separately verified.

VERADUCT next steps and exact gaps

Reconcile local manuals/ordinances with April 2026 law before advising on collection or refinancing. Confirm Omaha multifamily treatment directly from the current manual and identify other active districts before implying statewide reach. Lincoln's landing page returned 403 on direct fetch; indexed official content and its official manual support the limited details above. Completion certificates and actual savings remain separate evidence gaps.

Additional verification limits

Items requiring further confirmation: Reconcile 2026 law with manuals; Omaha multifamily; Fremont boundaries.

Continue your project research

Compare the national C-PACE financing structure; Organize state and local project requirements; Prepare a commercial-building improvement scope. This page provides guidance only; it does not accept an application or submit information to a provider.