Perhaps the most important bill I introduced this year turned out to be LB482, which is my destroyed property bill. LB482 prorates the property taxes of those landowners whose homes or buildings have been destroyed by a fire or a natural disaster to the date of its destruction for that tax year. Those who have lost their homes due to a fire or a natural disaster, such as a flood or a tornado, should not be burdened with having to pay their property taxes. When I first introduced this bill back in January I had no idea that Nebraska would soon be experiencing the worst year of natural disasters to ever hit the state and that the bill would be so timely.

LB482 now has a new legislative number. After three hours of rigorous debate on the floor of the Legislature, I was finally able to successfully amend the contents of LB482 into LB512, which is the Revenue Committee’s clean-up bill. After facing a three hour filibuster by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, LB512 advanced to Select File along with my amendment.

The bottom line is that many Nebraskans with destroyed property, especially from the recent floods and blizzards, need this kind of property tax relief this year. Nobody should ever have to pay property taxes on the ghost of a house or a barn which no longer exists. 27 counties across Nebraska have now been included in the disaster declaration. So, the need is great. Therefore, my amendment has been written to make property tax relief for all of these victims retroactive to January 1, 2019.

My amendment to LB512 has widespread bipartisan support in the Legislature. The bill passed with a vote of 42-0. This kind of a vote tells me that both Democrats and Republicans recognize the need to give our disaster victims some much needed relief this year. Hopefully, the bill will continue to receive such widespread support as the bill advances on to a second round of debate.

The needs of individuals should be our highest priority. Even in rare cases when most of a town or a village is destroyed, I believe the needs of the people should still take highest priority. After these folks have the chance to rebuild, their homes and buildings will be worth more than they were before the disaster occurred, and the community will be able to collect even more revenue in property taxes than they did before. So, it really is a win-win situation for everyone involved.