Property Tax Relief Bill Gets 'Nervous' Reception At Governor's Town Hall In Nebraska City

NEBRASKA CITY – Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said a property tax relief bill that would limit the growth of school spending fits his priorities, but the president of the Nebraska Association of  School Boards said it makes those in public schools nervous.

Ricketts said he proposes roughly $500 million in property tax relief over the next three years by phasing in a "per-student foundation" to the current school aid formula and changing the level of property tax on agriculture land values.

Ag land is currently taxed at 75 percent of market value, but LB974 would lower that to 55 percent.

 

Ricketts said while state government has held spending in check, local governments have raised local property taxes 54 percent over the last decade. LB 974 would limit school district’s annual budget growth to the inflation rate.

Ricketts: “Now one of the important things about this is you have to have expense controls to go with it to make sure that actually the additional money the state is putting in actually goes to property tax relief and not more spending.”

 

Stacie Higgins, president of the Nebraska Association of School Boards, asked State Sen. Julie Slama about thoughts now that LB 974 has come out of committee.

We at the public schools, we're nervous - Higgins

 

Higgins: “We at the public schools, we’re nervous. We’re really nervous about it, but we also, as property owners, also understand. We appreciate that the conversation is starting and we’re starting to move the ball on this because we know we can’t go another session and have the property tax discussion. We’ve got to come somewhere and so we do really appreciate the work of the governor’s office and our senators of getting something to the floor. We think that’s important. This one just makes us nervous.”

Slama: “Met with a lot of our school board members when they came into town on Monday and express their concerns and questions about 974 and what it would mean for our districts.”

The numbers are still being run, but the ones I've seen so far for our districts are much improved over the ones you are referencing. - Slama

 

Ricketts said there is a proposal for transition aid over three years as the foundation aid is phased in.

Higgins said she feels like there is a cliff.

Ricketts said there is no cliff because the transitional aid goes up as the per-student foundation is phased in.

He said LB974 meets his priorities.

 

 

Ricketts: “What I proposed to the Legislature is roughly $500 million over the next three years in additional property tax relief. And the way that we’re going to deliver that is through a per-student foundationing.”

He said per-student foundation will eliminate the practice of cutting state aid to school districts where ag land valuations go up.

He said the general fund budget is about $4.5 billion, about 28 percent of that, $1.3 billion, goes to schooling.

Ricketts says the mission of his administration is to grow Nebraska.

He talked about   his four pillars of prosperity  – developing people and connecting them with great-paying jobs, running government like a business, provide tax relief by controlling costs and promoting the state.

He said state gross domestic product grew faster than the national average for portions of 2019 and, for the time in the state’s history, over a million people were employed.

He said growth was accomplished despite the worst flood disaster in the state’s history.

Ricketts: “84 of our 94 counties declared a disaster.  104 cities, five tribal nations declared a disaster. We have had over $400 million in projects that have been submitted to FEMA.”
He said when you add damage to Offut Air Force Base the damage total exceeds $1 billion.