Last week, the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corporation held its annual meeting and awards dinner. Congratulations to all the deserving award winners; they all played a role in the continuing economic growth of our area.

I was honored to be asked to say a few words at the event. My remarks focused on the value of economic growth and the need to grow Nebraska. Clearly, Nebraska is a high-tax state compared to our neighbors. There are many reasons for that, but it has much to do with our population. Although South Dakota has half the population of Nebraska, they have no income tax and low property taxes, but charge a sales tax on many items. They also have fewer counties and fewer public schools. But, most importantly, a large portion of the sales tax revenue is collected from people who live outside the state but come to South Dakota for their tourist attractions.

If Nebraska wants to lower its tax burden by growing the state, we will need to see through the income tax cuts that are phasing down to 3.99%. This will make Nebraska competitive with our neighbors and neutralize the competitive disadvantage when recruiting and retaining employers. Lower income taxes help attract and retain employers who place a high priority on where they locate based on income taxes.

We will also need to have housing available if we want to attract workers to fill those newly created jobs. A large component of housing costs is our property tax rates followed closely by our high insurance rates. The insurance rates are higher almost entirely due to our high incidents of hail and wind losses. As a result, we will need to continue to be creative in providing incentives that have no direct upfront costs to the state. Today that incentive tool is Tax Increment Financing (TIF), where the developer repays bonds for improvements over time from incremental property taxes that otherwise would not be collected had the project not been built.

I believe that restoring some sales taxes that were exempted over the years and using those dollars for direct property tax relief would go a long way toward restoring the balance of our tax base. We can also take a page from the South Dakota playbook by collecting sales taxes from those traveling through Nebraska. Having non-residents help offset our high tax status is always welcome.

There will be more debate this coming session regarding ways to lower property taxes. The debate will likely focus on both state spending cuts and revenue growth to add to the property tax credit fund established through LB34 during the special session. Because of the focus on providing property tax relief, other spending bills will struggle to get traction in this coming session.

I also want to comment this week on questions I have received regarding the Corporate Transparency Act. This is a federal act that is designed to provide transparency regarding ownership of corporations, LLCs, and other partnerships. If you are an owner of a corporate entity created before 2024, you have until yearend to report the ownership makeup of the entity to FINCEN. Although most initially react to this requirement as more government overreach, we need to keep in mind that if we are serious about restricting foreign ownership of farmland and other businesses, we must know who the underlying owners of these entities are. Today, all that is on the public record for these entities is the list of board members and officers. These positions can easily be filled by U.S. residents willing to be paid to serve in these roles. If you have questions regarding this new law, I encourage you to contact the attorney who created your entity or your tax preparer to help you with the filing requirements.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.