As many of you are aware, Governor Pillen has told us to save the dates of July 25-August 15 for a special session to discuss property taxes. The official proclamation has not been given, but the governor is telling us we are going to start on July 25th. In the meantime, Governor Pillen has been traveling around the state hosting town halls to discuss his plan for property taxes as well as listening to Nebraskans about their thoughts and ideas. On Thursday, July 18th, the governor held a press conference where he laid out “The Nebraska Plan to cut property taxes”. I would like to take time this week to go over the plan and what we may be discussing during special session in the days and weeks ahead.

Special Session/Property Tax Plan
The Nebraska Plan to cut property taxes would slash property taxes paid by Nebraskans by an average of 50 percent, representing the largest property tax cut in Nebraska history. A copy of the plan is available on the Governor’s website at https://governor.nebraska.gov/nebraska-property-tax-plan.

“In a few short years Nebraskans will be paying $1 million a day in property taxes. That’s $6 billion a year. Property taxes are hurting young people, our seniors, homeowners, renters, farmers, business owners. We need state senators to enter the upcoming special session with the determination to fix this issue immediately,” said Governor Pillen.

During the news conference, Senator Linehan outlined key objectives of the comprehensive tax proposal which include:

• Slashing property taxes by an average of 50%
• Having the state assume greater funding of K-12 public schools
• Ensuring that investments in public safety are protected and exempt from hard caps on local government tax collections
• Placing limits on local tax collections
• Identifying massive savings at the state level and running state government like a business

“Local spending is a significant issue when it comes to ever-rising property taxes, and one that we need to finally address,” said Senator Linehan. “If local governments want to collect more in property taxes, then the decision should be left to taxpayers. That is flexible and fair. It creates a pathway for community growth, but with reasonable controls.”

Local government spending has caused property taxes to balloon by $1 billion in the last five years. “While we call for spending restraint at the local level, we need to do the same in state government. When we talk about running government like a business, this is integral to the goal,” said Governor Pillen. “Money saved can be directed to providing property tax reform, which is necessary to making us more competitive and ultimately, to growing Nebraska.”

In addition to expanding state funding of public schools, which would be phased in over three years, and limiting local property tax collections, cutting state expenditures is a significant and necessary feature of reducing property taxes. The plan cuts state spending by $350 million, leverages $235 million in idle cash funds, and uses federal funds to supplant general funds.

The elimination of 114 tax exemptions would generate an estimated $950 million in property tax relief. Food and medications would remain untouched, but things like cigarettes, candy, pop, games of skill, and other items would be taxable, as they are in other states. “Special interest groups have been very successful in carving out tax exemptions,” said Governor Pillen. “Over time, they have eroded our tax base. This proposal better balances the state’s three-legged stool (income tax, sales tax, and property tax) and broadens the base, putting the choice to spend in the hands of consumers.”

Further, the plan calls for retooling credits to taxpayers, so they are loaded on the front end, instead of taxpayers having to claim them on the back end. In 2022, over half of all Nebraska property taxpayers did not claim these benefits.

On page 10 of the published “The Nebraska Plan to cut Property Taxes playbook” (https://governor.nebraska.gov/nebraska-property-tax-plan) is a QR code or go to email link (https://bit.ly/3VViRyl) to calculate how you will directly benefit.
(Strimple, Laura and Urlis, Allan. Press Release. “Gov. Pillen Releases Property Tax Reduction Plan Ahead of Special Session”. 18 July, 2024. https://shorturl.at/nmok2)

As always, I invite you to let me know your thoughts, ideas, concerns, or suggestions by calling my office at (402) 471-2716 or emailing me at jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov.