When I introduced LB482 in the Legislature back in January, I did not realize back then how timely this piece of legislation would be. LB482 is my destroyed property bill. The bill would prorate the property taxes on a person’s real property from the date of its destruction by way of a fire or a natural disaster. Because of the March blizzard and the floods in Eastern Nebraska, LB482 could not have been timed any better. If we can make this bill retroactive, those with damaged property could get some much needed relief. To me, it just makes sense that those who have had their property damaged by the storms or who have lost everything in the floods should not have to pay any property taxes until their property is restored or they can rebuild.

But, not everybody supports LB482. Some do not want this bill to ever become a law in Nebraska. LB482 has had some opposition, especially from the Nebraska Association of County Officials (NACO) and some county assessors.

Those who represent these two groups seldom ever consider the plight of the taxpayer. Instead, they tend to think only of the taxes they collect and less work for themselves.

Whenever a lobbyist represents a group or an organization, they get paid a lot of money to bring more money into that group or organization from the State.

We now have preliminary reports of the damages from the storm and the flood. The preliminary reports of the damage show that 77 counties have filed emergency declarations covering more than 80 percent of the State. Some of these counties were hit much harder than others. For instance, Nance County was hit the hardest with damages totaling $232,795,400 for roads, bridges and real estate, while damages in Brown County totaled only $5,000.

In most cases, property taxes lost by LB482 would not have a debilitating effect on county budgets in 2019. The reason is two-fold. First, most counties did not suffer enough damage to make a sizeable dent in their revenues, such as Brown County. Nance and Sarpy counties may be the only two exceptions to this rule. These two counties likely suffered enough damage to affect their county’s revenues in a significant way. But, counties have another way to deal with these kinds of a situations.

The second reason why LB482 should not affect county budgets in a debilitating kind of way is that property taxes are always paid in arrears. Any loss in revenues would not be felt until 2020. However, counties will set their budgets in September of this year. At that time, they may adjust their levies to make up for some of the anticipated losses in revenues. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect local units of government, such as county governments, to work with a revenue shortfall just as property taxpayers do when they experience a decrease in personal income.

There is always hope for the future. Once properties have been restored or rebuilt, property values would likely go up, and counties would receive even more revenue than before. In the meantime, I believe those suffering from property damage or the loss of their property should be relieved from having to pay property taxes until they can get back on their feet. So, LB482 is common sense legislation which benefits the people who need property tax relief the most.

Flooding at Camp Ashland