Bring Back Sidney, Sidney, NE (2025)

10/14/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
This weekend, we received a question about what Commissioner Sanders said at the Special City Council meeting last week. Did the Commissioners raise or lower our taxes? So let's take a look at the truth...

Truth can take many forms, especially when words are chosen very carefully to convey a certain viewpoint. This is why, when you are sworn in to testify in court, like I have hundreds of times, they say, “Promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The whole truth is usually different from the truth. What does that mean? Commissioner Sanders said they lowered the levy for our taxes to the lowest it has been in over 10 years. That statement is true. But is it the whole truth?

If you don't know how the taxing structure works, you might jump the the conclusion that the Cheyenne County Commissioners have lowered taxes because they lowered the levy. That is not the whole truth. While it is true they lowered the levy, it is also true that the state of Nebraska increased our property values so much this last year that the Commissioners can lower the levy and we still get a tax increase. Both in this case are true.

Look at the property tax values for this $264,000 home in Sidney we chose at random in the photo we posted. From 2020 to 2021, the levy went up, but the tax went down. Why? Home values went down. From 2021 to 2023, the levy went down each year, but taxes went up. Why? Home values went up. Now, look at the levy value set in 2024; it is about the same as in 2015. So what Commissioner Sanders said is true. They have the levy at 2015 levels; however, this home is paying $300 more in taxes than it did in 2015, even though the levy is about the same. The levy is only one component in calculating your property tax. Commissioners, City Council, etc., determine if your taxes go up or down depending on just how much they move the levy.

So in 2025, which is not on this chart yet, the Commissioners kept a lower levy, but our taxes in most cases are going up. Home values went up by about 7%. That is huge. The commissioners did lower the levy (true), but not low enough for us not to have a tax increase (whole truth). They raised property taxes in Cheyenne County $200,000 to fund a reserve account they like to keep 1 million dollars in. So you can lower the levy but still raise taxes. That is what they did. Hope this makes sense. We have some more questions we will try to answer this week about what is coming to Sidney. Time to get informed.

10/11/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
So some here in Sidney question why I keep pushing for the right to FOIA, ask questions. Why do we care what our local government does? Why do I do that? Let me explain why.

I love history because we must never forget the mistakes and successes of the past. We learn and build on it. When I first moved to Pennsylvania almost 30 years ago, I immediately went to the place where George Washington crossed the Delaware that Christmas morning in 1776. Stood where he stood, looking across the Delaware, I was stunned. The Delaware is almost 300 yards wide there. The patriots were tired of being taxed with no representation in King George III's rule. They fought for their rights, created the United States, for and by the people. A government of the people.

Living in Pennsylvania, I was surrounded by Civil War battlefields. The most horrendous was Gettysburg. 30 minutes from my home. I went there dozens of times. More than 50,000 American casualties in 3 days of fighting over July 4, 1863. The North was fighting to preserve the Union, end slavery. The South was fighting for states' rights. Gen. Reynolds, killed at Gettysburg, was the 1 Corps Commander, Army of the Potomac. His family's home in Pennsylvania was close to mine. Died at 43 on the first day of the battle protecting the right flank of the Union. The most moving was to walk Picket's charge. Over 1 mile. During that charge of just over 1 hour, there were 8,000 casualties. Southern soldiers executed that charge knowing they would die. They marched up Cemetery Ridge, looking into more than 50 cannons firing at them. Rights are that important. As Gen. Lee retired from the battlefield, his wagon train of wounded was over 17 miles long. Americans, both sides.

I walked the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Manassas, and many more. Stunned that Americans could not find a way out of all those deaths through conversation and debate. Americans who just 80 years prior fought side by side for rights to form the United States, now kill each other for the same thing. Why? All on the land in Pennsylvania that I called home, my backyard. How does that not affect you? It did me and still does.

The war ended on April 9, 1865. There were ill feelings on all sides. Carpetbaggers stealing from the South. Distrust. Governments divided. One year after the end of the war, Nebraska passed the Public Records Act of 1866. Nebraska, at that time, was a territory. The goal was to show complete transparency in the Nebraska government, build trust. Encourage people to move to Nebraska. Give them the right to look into the government, see the truth. Hold elected officials accountable. One year later, Nebraska became a state. The people's government.

I have walked the battlefields of Normandy, France. The cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, Alsace, Bastogne, and so many more. I have seen the memorials to hundreds of thousands of people fighting for rights. We must never forget those who died for our right of transparency in government. Our rights.... Never.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law by President Johnson, July 4, 1966, during a time of distrust. President Kennedy had been assassinated 2 ½ years earlier, Vietnam War, lies, distrust. Whenever there is distrust, laws of transparency are created to rebuild trust in government. The Nebraska Open Meetings Act was signed in 1975. It was made to keep public policy in the open and not in back rooms in secret. All acts, laws, and rights are created to keep government open, transparent, and accountable.

Why do I FOIA? Because people fought and died for those rights. Rebuild trust. Brave people in history gave us these rights. Honor the gifts they gave us. Build trust through transparency. Protect your right to question. If there is nothing to hide, what is the problem?

10/06/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
Today at 12 pm, the Sidney City Council is holding a workshop at City Hall to listen to a proposal to fundamentally change the Economic Development Director's position from a person to a “corporation”. This can not be done. Corporations do not belong in the administration of any public government created for the people. Corporations do not have to adhere to Federal and State laws like people do. They are not meant to “occupy” any position in our government. This will make the Sidney government less transparent. Maybe that is the goal. It has to be stopped.

Governments are by people, for people. We seemed to have forgotten that here in Sidney. So, today I will address the city council and hopefully remind them just how important our history and people are. This is a bad idea. Bad for our future. Bad for our community.

Please come to the meeting at 12 pm. It is time to return Sidney to the people. Transparent, accountable, and inclusive, no corporations. I will be addressing the council about America and the history of its people. I hope to see you there. It is time democracy stands up and stop this proposal.

10/03/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
Yesterday, I received a message asking to clarify my remarks about a “chamber member” asking for help stopping this idea. Sidney.... I said “chamber member”.... NOT chamber management or leadership. I spoke to at least 4 chamber members about this issue. A Chamber Member asked for help. Typical Sidney, bullies come out, saying fire them. Why attack anyone for using their First Amendment right? I also spoke to employees of Walmart and other businesses. Do you want them all fired as well? We are better than this, or at least we should be.

Conversation
Yesterday, Eric Pool and I met with our Interim City Manager, Josh Hanson, and City Clerk Lori Borchert for over 90 minutes. It was a frank and honest conversation. Unlike many previous conversations with our last city manager. We expressed our concerns about further dividing the city. Losing FOIA rights, etc. Allowing corporations to run the city. Many issues. Most importantly, the city is losing control of economic development, which means voters lose control. It was a good meeting. Mr. Hanson explained that he has scheduled time after the presentation for everyone who desires to speak at the council meeting on Monday, October 6th will be able to. Again, different policies from our previous city manager. We encourage everyone to attend. We have to stop this.

My main problem, as I explain in this proposal, is that “economic development” is being taken over by a corporation. This is a horrible idea. Haven't we learned? The proposal weaves company influence and vetting throughout many city operations. This is a corporate takeover of economic development here in Sidney and Cheyenne County. It can not be allowed to happen. We will lose all FOIA rights and transparency.

I explained to our interim City Manager my deep and legal concerns. Our founding fathers fought a war over taxation without representation. That is exactly what this is. You will be collecting our tax dollars and giving them to a corporation that we can not FOIA, and have no transparency control over under US law. The Founding Fathers never wrote specific laws about “Taxation without representation” because the entirety of our U.S. Constitution gives power specifically to the people. Every law ensures that people NOT companies, shall manage the government. This is a bad idea to let a company this far into our city government. We are a small town in the panhandle. Stop trying to be Lincoln.

Passing any version of this will divide Sidney. This is not “Against” anyone. It is against a policy that allows corporate influence. Allowing a company to manage our small town. We will say this to the council on Monday. I hope everyone attends. This can not pass. Sidney is a community, not a company. Let's come together and work towards a better community. Please continue sharing and liking; people need to know. You need to attend. See you at the meeting.

10/02/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
As promised, we are going to begin to post information that everyone here in Cheyenne County should be aware of. Please see the attached proposal in the link below. This was sent to us by someone who received it and is asking for help stopping it. Read it carefully because if the city and county pass this proposal, we as voters will lose all rights to public oversight.

If passed, a private company will be formed to handle all economic development. Our money, along with economic development, will be controlled by this new private company.

Second, this will cost taxpayers here $675,000 over the next 5 years of the contract. They will use this money to fund the company while spending the next 5 years looking for sustainable philanthropic funding of $3.5 million for this new company. In other words, we as taxpayers are funding this company's startup to the tune of $675,000.

The part that concerns our group the most is the lack of accountability. As a private company, we, the voters, have no right to FOIA or request documents. We have no right to ask how the money is being spent because it is now being administered by a private company and not our local government. They may say “we will be transparent”, but in the law, we have no way to force them to show us the information, unlike a local government agency we have now. We can ask, and they have to answer. We are giving away this right.

Here is the really scary part.....
Quote..... “The group will not be required to adhere to the Public Meetings Act as they are a contracted service to support the City and County.”

In other words, they do not have to conform to Nebraska law. They do not have to adhere to full transparency, unlike what we have now.

Over the past 3 years, our group has used FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act) laws to track money movement in our local government. They are not subject to FOIA. We will not be able nor will we have the right to track where our tax dollars are going. If ANYONE in the city or county says otherwise, I suggest they contact the Nebraska Attorney General as we have.

Please see the link for the proposal. We will post more scary points tomorrow. Sidney and Cheyenne County, if this passes, we will lose all control of Economic Development, and give complete control over to a private company. For what? Why do this?

PDF of Proposal
https://changecheyenne.com/images/PDF/E3%20Purposal%20To%20City.pdf

10/01/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
Yesterday, I received a message from a Chamber member about a meeting coming up on Monday, October 6th, at 12 pm at Sidney City Hall. They were asking for help in stopping what they called a “terrible idea.” Form an economic development corporation. We hadn't heard about it. In this special city council meeting, they are looking to change the way economic development is done here in Sidney and also talk about electrical rates. This person was completely opposed to this. We will explore more on this subject.

Yesterday, I asked the city and confirmed that they had invited chamber members, the city council, E3, and County Commissioners. Many in Sidney probably do not know about the “Special” meeting to discuss economic development and electrical rates, because they only announced this during one meeting almost 1 month ago and put a small notice in the classifieds in last week's newspaper.

I was told by the city that they want to hear from residents. How many of our over 9,000 county residents knew about this special meeting? Trust is important. This lack of public notice and consideration is one of the reasons why none of our group trusts local government here. This is yet another example of making sure a small group of people know about this important meeting, while not making sure the public at large does. You want to hear from the public, yet you hold the meeting in the middle of a workday. How many do you think can attend this? Decisions from this meeting will affect every single resident in Sidney. Every one of us.

I personally can not attend this meeting because of previous out-of-town commitments that I can not change. I will be emailing every single council member and commissioner our thoughts. I pray that many of you attend the meeting or send emails to our council and commissioners. They just raised our taxes; are they now going to raise our electrical rates? Are we going through this again? We can't ignore this. What do you think?

09/29/2025

Good Morning Sidney and Cheyenne County,
So this last week there was a headline in our local media, “New Cheyenne County Budget Sets Record Lowest County Tax Rate in 20 Years”. Wow, Cheyenne County is doing great, right? Then if they cut all that spending, why did we still get a tax increase of $200,000 in the county? Why did Sidney still raise our taxes $60,000? Now, let us explain the truth of what is happening.

First, ask yourself, “If they did all this wonderful budget cutting, why did we get a tax increase?”

They cut the “mil levy”. That is the “tax rate” we have to pay on our property. The headline reads “RATE”.... not taxes. They can cut that rate because the state of Nebraska raised all our property values 7% this year on average. So your property is worth 7% more. If they didn't cut the rate, then your taxes would have increased 7%. It is a slide of hand. If this were all true, which it isn't, how is it they cut the rate and we still get a tax increase? Your property is worth 7% more, so they can cut the rate and say they cut taxes, when they actually didn't. They cut the “rate”. Not taxes. They actually gave us a tax increase. You will be paying more, while they say they cut taxes, when they actually didn't; they raised them.

So, they have cut spending, which means they cut services to the residents, and we get a $200,000 tax increase. How does that happen? Same thing they did in 2022, they fund a “reserve account” with over 1 million dollars, and then slowly spend out of that reserve account if they need to. Money that isn't tracked through the normal budget process. They create and spend from “reserves”. They use the “reserve account” as a “slush fund” just like Sidney uses its “capital asset” account as a “slush fund”. Slush funds can be used for anything they want. But we cut the budget spending. They did, but raised taxes for a “reserve account”. "sleight of hand" spending.

Further, they used “shrinkflation”. Many companies did this exact same thing during COVID. They cut the size of their products down so they could keep the retail cost lower. Remember the Doritos example during COVID, fewer chips, same price? It coined an entire new term called “Shrinkflation”. https://www.gao.gov/blog/what-shrinkflation-and-how-has-it-affected-grocery-store-items-recently They cut the number of chips in every bag so they didn't have to raise the price. Cheyenne County has just cut services 9% from the budget. They cut spending and services by $2 million and gave us a $200,000 tax increase. Shrinkflation and taxes. That is the truth.

So, what we have here is “Shrinkflation”. We are paying more for less, AND we got a tax increase. They raised your taxes again. They cut $2 million in services while funding a "reserve account" and still raised your taxes. It is insane.

09/25/2025

Good Morning Sidney and Cheyenne County,
We all saw that the Sidney City Council passed the budget. Our taxes are going up in the city. Our taxes are going up in the County. Taxes are a huge problem in our local community, and they are going up again. This will once again hurt our community. For what? These tax increases are not necessary, and we will show you after we receive some information back from state officials. We will show you the numbers.

As we have been saying for 3 years, local officials set our taxes through the mil levy. You can clearly see that this year. Throughout the state of Nebraska, property values went up approximately 7%. Our taxes didn't go up that amount, mostly around 2%. Local officials set our taxes. Not the state. Just as we have been saying. If we want to lower our taxes here in Cheyenne County, we need to pay more attention to who we are electing. We need to cut spending and ease the burden on our residents. We all know this, but it is not happening.

This morning, we are not going into great detail and post on and on about the problems. We have done that for 3 years. Now that the city and county have passed the budgets, by law, they have to publish them with the state of Nebraska. The full budget details. We will once again look to our state agencies to find out what is happening locally. They openly tell us.

Our goals for this upcoming year are to put ballot initiatives for November 2026 to force more transparency in city and county governments, spending controls, and, once again, run candidates who believe in transparency and fiscal responsibility. We will explain those as we go along.

Many offices have changed over this year. Many changes. There needs to be more. Complete transparency, debate the numbers, truth. We will present local ballot initiatives that will FORCE public spending transparency on all officials, and put in controls to establish public hearings and public transparency. We are Cheyenne County and all its communities. Together, we can fix taxes, spending, wages, and sales tax revenue if we just come together with the truth. What is the truth? We are going to find out, together. 2026 is a big election year. Let's build a better future.

09/23/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
Our government should be for and about people. We have said this many times. Faith should be the glue that holds all of us together in conversation and debate. We should stop ALL bullying. Use our words, facts, and numbers, and find the best course. People matter. This weekend, many of us witnessed just how important people are. Faith, words, honest debate. More important than politics.

Yesterday I read big headlines “Commissioners Approve Lower Budget”. Is that really true? Let's look at it. So the claim is that our commissioners approve a 9% decrease. Yet, our taxes went up 3%!!! What kind of new math is that? How is it they cut the budget, but we need more taxes? Does that make any sense? We are going to spend less, but we need more of your money? What are they doing?

So the budget is down 9% but the taxes are going up 3%. Where is the money going? You have to read the numbers really closely to find out, because they don't tell you. There is NO transparency. It is going to yet another $1 million bank account or reserve. We have heard this all before. Remember, we raised our taxes 8% in 2022 so we could have a $1 million dollar reserve, just in case we have a murder trial? What happened to that reserve? Why isn't it still there? BECAUSE THEY SPENT IT. If we are constantly having to put more money in the reserve because we are spending the reserve each year, is it really a reserve, or is it just another name for spending? Have we found a new way to hide spending from the people? Let's call it a reserve......wait a bit, then spend it.

Does it make any sense that they “cut spending” yet raise our taxes? This is exactly like the city saying we need an electrical increase to keep a reserve when we didn't need one. The city does it. The county does it. It is more creative ways to raise taxes and spend money, while not telling us. It needs to stop.

Last November, before the election, we warned this would happen. But this? This is a whole new version of “unreal”. They are cutting our services but raising our taxes. Wow... We need to put the health of the people first, well before new ways to spend money. We need honest transparency. Later this month, local governments have to publish the budgets to the state, and then we can get a copy. I promise we are going through the city and the county line by line. Track all spending and inform you about it. Hopefully, by 2026, we will elect new leadership that cares about people, transparency, and truly lowers taxes. Only then will we fix our community.

09/18/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
More houses are going up for sale in Sidney. Many are leaving for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, taxes and better opportunities. We have sadly heard all this before. Post about it again, nothing happens. So once again, here we are....... another year of tax increases and another plea to residents to come together and fix our taxes....Again..... Watch more people leave. Hopefully, all these houses for sale will worry enough people to stand up and demand that we fix these issues. I don't get why we are not doing that. We know the problems, taxes, and so why are our officials once again this year raising taxes?

Many look to grants to help. Are grants really the solution? One grant said they will be able to push at least $60,000 a year into the local economy. That is awesome, it will help, but it is a drop in the bucket for what we need, though. Our County Commissioners just announced, this week, they are doing yet another tax increase, which is around $200,000. There goes $60,000 taken away by a $200,000 tax increase.

Since the LB644 meeting in 2022, our County Commissioners have raised our taxes by about 16%. Slowly, each year. Faster than we can find grants. So while you have $60,000 from a grant, you have the County Commissioners pulling $200,000 out of our economy for more spending just this year. Almost 1 million more in taxes since 2022. That is a lot. Too much for our small community.

The Sidney City Council is raising taxes as well, and who knows how much from our schools. Taxes are destroying our economic foundations at a faster rate than grants or other solutions are helping. Are we going to worry now?

You want to help make a change? You want to help take Sidney and Cheyenne County in a new direction? No fighting. No arguing. Working together for change. If you are willing to help, join our mailing list. We are going to have meetings soon, and we are going to find solutions as a community. Join the mailing list. https://changecheyenne.com/

Please "like" and "share" this post to help your neighbors find out that we are seeking solutions, together. The alternatives are to get used to yearly tax increases, because they are still spending. It is going to take everyone working together to move in new directions.

09/16/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
The events of this past week are still spinning in our heads. Unbelievable sadness that a person turns to horrible violence instead of debate, here in America. It will take faith, conversation, and forgiveness to heal this divide. We are Americans, one nation, under God.

I have answered several messages this week from residents saying that we need to make sure that the next leadership is someone born in Sidney. Why? Let's look at that for 1 minute.

You have MANY elected officials, born and raised here, who have voted time and time again to raise your taxes. Some 7 out of the last 9 years. More taxes. People born in Sidney, as well as others, raised our taxes to the highest taxed city in Nebraska. They have spent excessive amounts of money, putting hardships on their neighbors. Others not born in Sidney have done the same thing. People born in Sidney voted to track your movement with AI. Yes, they did that. Faith and strong feelings of right and wrong control your actions, not geography.

In our group, we have members born here; I was born in the farmland of Oregon. Some Northern California, some Colorado, and many other places across America. We are Americans, following our faith and constitution. One nation. We push for the rights of all Sidney residents, equally, no matter where they are born, because we are all Americans. We do not separate or discriminate. One Nation under God, all with the same equal rights.

Our leadership, some born here, ALMOST got a 22% electrical rate increase passed that was not necessary. That must NEVER be able to happen again. All of Sidney stopped that, not just people born here. From this point forward, we ALL need to make sure anyone who is moved into ANY position of power or control, puts our community and the interests of its PEOPLE, first. Community before special interests.

Friday, I received a letter from Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers. We have written over 50 letters to State Senators, Public Auditors, Attorney Generals, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Department of Revenue, TERC, and many other representatives to learn every aspect of Nebraska Law, and I am not even from Nebraska. I am not from Sidney, but I love Nebraska; it is my home. I work alongside other Americans to find the truth and the best paths forward for our community.

I wrote the Attorney General to ask specific questions about Nebraska Open Meeting laws and their enforcement. We will discuss this as we move forward. It is imperative that those we elect or put in charge follow Nebraska law and public transparency. Our goal is to make sure that happens. We can not go back to “this is the way it has always been here in Sidney”.Today, right now, let us all unite and move forward for change. One nation, America. Sidney is our home now as well. We all love it too.

09/12/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
Our U.S. Constitution empowers people first. The most important amendment to our U.S. Constitution is the 1st Amendment—freedom of speech. Your power is your voice. You proved that. With your participation, a record number of shares on our posts, more people saw what was happening, and you raised your voice. You made change happen. Together, the truth was found, true numbers and facts.

The strength of any business is its customers. The strength of a community is the people, not the government. Sidney is a great place to live, but taxes are too high, and wages are too low. For too long, decisions have been made as to what is best for the city and county governments, and not the people. Forcing the people to face ever-increasing taxes as we pay for more and more government. We must do better.

Do we need a City Manager AND an Assistant City Manager in our small panhandle town? It is a lot of money, which we don't really have. Let's debate it. We get to decide. That is why our U.S. Constitution put the power in the people and why it starts with “We the People”. The U.S. Constitution doesn't start with “We the Government”. People matter before government. Our residents need relief from all the taxes. Let's come together, reduce taxes, and cut spending. The statement “this is the way Sidney has always been” no longer applies. That, my friends, is done. You have changed that.

This morning, our city council can start us in a new direction. One that values people over parking lots. One that listens to all voices, not just a few. One that welcomes all ideas, because through that process, the best paths forward are found. Choose the people, and let's move forward.

Bring Back Sidney

10/14/2025

10/11/2025

10/06/2025

10/03/2025

10/02/2025

10/01/2025

09/29/2025

09/25/2025

09/23/2025

09/18/2025

09/16/2025

09/12/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category