Grand Island is now $1million closer to bringing the state fair to central Nebraska.

The Hall County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to commit the money to the state fair move. It's the first public commitment of funds to the effort, and Grand Island still needs to come up with $7.5 million to cover their local share of the moving costs.

Turning Fonner Park into the Nebraska State Fair will take money, and the Hall County Board of Supervisors is the first to ante up.

"We wanted to, I guess, show our support for the state fair,” said Bud Jeffries, Hall County Board of Supervisors chairman.

The board voted to raise $1 million with half coming from a tax levy for the county Ag Society.

That could raise taxes slightly, depending on land valuation.

"We increased it $100,000 a year, which did not raise the levy, and we are also going to supply them with $100,000 worth of Keno funds,” Jeffries said.

The money will be raised over 6 years.

Community leaders say it's a great start, but also realize they need a total of $3 million by Oct. 1 to meet the state's funding deadline.

"It's good news and bad news. The great news is we have $1million. That really sets a tone for the future effort that hopefully will culminate in the next month and a half or so,” said Jay Vavricek, State Fair Committee.

The State Fair Committee has been talking with both private and public sources. Vavricek said they'll get the job done.

"A number of policy-making decisions are going to need to go forward so people have a greater understanding of what's at hand so we can meet the certification process. We still believe that we're confident that we'll be successful,” Vavricek said.

The co-chair of the Grand Island State Fair Funding Committee said there's a couple of ways the community can successfully raise those funds. First, they're hoping the city will contribute around $5 million. City officials have not yet announced what role they will play.

Also, the naming rights for new fair buildings are being put up for sale. That's for a $1 million commitment.

Overall, the committee hopes to raise around $2 million in private funds.