SUMMER
School of Journalism
University of Nebraska
Number 1
May 27, 1982
N
EBRAS
KAN
Energy law could stimulate solar industry
15V MIKi; K IX SAW
Nebraska legislators passed the energy
bill, LB799, this year to try to increase eco
nomic activity, according to Dan Meyer, a re
search analyst with State Sen. John De
Camp's office.
The law, signed by Gov. Charles Thone,
takes effect July 16. It provides income tax
credits to people and corporations who install
renewable energy systems in their homes or
buildings.
It also repeals current sales and property
tax credit incentives to solar energy systems
buyers after July 16.
Anyone who installs a solar energy system
on or after January 1, 1982 is eligible for the
income tax credit when they fill out their 1982
state income tax form, said Pete Davis, Ne
braska Energy Office energy programs ad
ministrator. Tax credit offered
During 1982, consumers get a 30 percent in
come tax credit on the cost of the system, or
$3,000; whichever is less, Davis said. The
maximum credit is doubled for corporations,
which is 30 percent on the cost of the system,
or $6,000, whichever is less, he said.
For a corporation to receive credit.it
would have to spend $20,000 to purchase and
install the system, Davis said.
Consumers can install either active or pas
sive solar heating systems or windmills.
An active solar heating system consists of
a solar collector which gathers heat and
transfers the heat by mechanical means to
other parts of a building.
A passive solar heating system relies on
natural heal transfer properties, not on ma
chinery. It works on the green house effect,
such as having windows on the southside of a
building. Flooring, like concrete, also absorbs
heat.
Law should stimulate economy
Besides provding the consumer income
tax credit, the law should stimulate the state's
economy, Meyer said. There is a significant
cash outflow out of the state because Ne
braska imports 95 percent of its energy needs,
such as natural gas and coal, Meyer said.
The law's authors wanted to reverse this
outflow, Meyer said. There are three ways to
reverse the outflow. One way is to use less
energy by keeping homes colder. Another
conservation method is to promote more effi
cient energy use. The third way is to reduce
the use of out state energy resources, Meyer
said.
The law's main goal is to reduce cash out
flow, Meyer said. LB799 also is intended to en
courage efficient energy use, Meyer said.
Law made sense
"The legislators passed the bill because it
made economic sense," Meyer said.
People have begun to add their energy
costs to their home costs Meyer said.
Energy costs are beginning to exceed
other costs, Meyer said. Meyer concluded
that if energy costs exceed other costs then
people cannot afford to buy a home or other
things, Meyer said.
With solar heating systems, people can
build homes using 80 percent less energy,
Meyer said. Fifty percent of the new homes
on the market have passive solar heating,
Meyer said.
Nebraska is the first state to pass a bill
stimulating the passive solar heating indus
try, Meyer said.
The law's tax incentive will decrease over
the next five years, until it expires in 1986. By
1986, the solar energy systems buyer will only
get a 10 percent income tax credit, or $1,000.
By 1986,a corporation will only get a 10 per
cent income tax credit, or $2,000.
Solar industry should grow
Meyer said he believed the solar industry
will grow and solar energy system prices will
go down. As the tax incentive decreases, so
should the systems'price, he said.
The tax incentive decrease, also provides
an incentive for people to put a system in
now, Davis said.
The law has added bonus
If a purchaser installs a system before
July 16, they can have an added bonus. A loop
hole in the law allows a purchaser to get in
come tax credit, sales tax credit and property
tax credit before the bill becomes a law,
Davis and Meyer said.
The sales and property tax credits were
repealed because they did not provide very
much incentive, Meyer said.
Similar laws in California, Kansas and
Colorado showed that the best incentive was
the income tax credit, Meyer said.
Grant provisions included
The energy bill also provides $100,000 in
state grants to cities, counties, towns or natu
ral resource districts that install a geother
mal system.
A geothermal heating system uses heat
from underground hot springs to warm a
building. Grant applications are made to the
Nebraska Energy Office. A committee de
cides what projects will be funded, Davis
said.
The grant committee will base their deci
sion depending on the project's life expectan
cy, energy savings and the project type,
Davis said.
The grant recipient must put up matching
money, amounting to half of the grant re
quested, Davis said. Thus a grant would only
pay for part of the system's cost, he said.
Grant applicants can receive money if
they install the system either in an old or new
building, Davis said.
Conceivably, they could build a new build
ing with a geothermal system, but the grant
will only be for the geothermal system not for
construction of the building, Davis said.
They can start building now and apply for
money later, Davis said.
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Copyright 1982 by Warner Bros. Inc.
Robin Williams will star as T.S. Garp in "The World
According to Garp," one of many entertainment ac
tivities available this summer. For a complete cata
logue of summer fun turn to page 4.
Bartering system grows
as the dollar decreases
BY JIM ANDERSON
Mike Berger says he'll do business with
anyone who has a marketable product. Ber
ger, owner of Lincoln's Exchange Enter
prises, Suite 1, 4108 Progressive Ave., is in
volved in bartering, which he said is a grow
ing business in Lincoln as well as the rest of
the country. There are about 70 members in
Exchange Enterprises in Lincoln, Berger
said, and the number is growing as the value
of the dollar decreases. Berger said a mem
bership fee of $50 plus yearly dues is the only
cash which members of Berger's system put
into his business. Part of his business's rent
and a portion of his employees' salaries are
paid with bartering but he looks forward, he
said, to the day when most of his business ex
penses can be paid that way.
Bartering for large -scale transactions
Berger said the difference between trad
ing, which he calls one of the world's oldest
practices, and bartering is that trade takes
place between only two parties and bartering
is the exchange of goods or services involving
three or more parties. Some transactions,
Berger said, are suited for trading but some
on a larger sscale are not and in these cases
bartering is the thing to do. Berger uses as an
example of how bartering works, an imagi
nary shoe merchant who needs $5,000 worth of
printing done for him. Buying the printing,
said Berger, may be too expensive and trade
wouldn't work because the printer may not
need $5,000 worth of shoes. The shoe mer
chant in the example can bring his shoes to an
exchange, a middleman or a clearinghouse,
he said, and their worth will be credited to his
account there. The printer may also have
brought $5,000 worth of printing services to
the exchange and bis account is likew ise cred
ited with $5,000. Berger said the shoe mer
chant can then recieve his printing and the
printer can recieve whatever he wants from
the exchange from the store of products
and services brought there by the its other
members. The shoe merchani receives his
$5,000 worth of printing Berger said, but it has
only cost him the wholesale price of his shoes.
Exchange Enterprises, Berger said, takes
a 10 percent fee on each trade it conducts.
Most in the exchange are businessmen or pro
fessionals, he said, but he will accept as a
member anyone who has a marketable prod
uct or service. According to the Internal Rev
enue Service, bartering is a legitimate busi
ness practice and, said an IRS representative,
it is taxed according to the market value of
the products exchanged. The state views bar
tering in the same way the IRS does, said
Karl Cochrane of Nebraska's Department of
Revenue. Bartering as a business practice is
also subject to a state sales tax, he said. Over
60 percent of the companies listed in the New
York Stock Exchange practice bartering be
tween one another. It's just plain good busi
ness, he said. Exchange Enterprises was
begun in Salt Lake City over 10 years ago by
Gaylen and Ross Rigby and now has 76 fran
chises nationwide, most in the western United
States. There are 10 franchises in Nebraska.
UN-L artist wins
Patroness Award
Dan F. Howard, chairman of the art de
partment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
received a $500 Patroness Award at the
MID-Four Juried Art Exhibition. Howard re
ceived the award for the oil painting, "Push
ing Mass and Light."
The MID-Four Exhibition is showing at the
Nelson Gallery in Kansas City, Mo., through
June 13. The exhibit consist of art works sub
mitted by artists from Nebraska, Iowa, Kan
sas, and Missouri.
Selections for the exhibit and designation
of awards was made by Diane Waldman,
assistant director of the Guggenheim Mu
seum in New York City. Eight works by 55
artists were accepted for the exhibition.
Howard is also displaying oil paintings at
the You Horwich Gallery in Chicago through
June. The Chicago exhibit include Howard's
paintings "English Interiors," "Fronts," and
"Bondage."