This week, I signed into law a series of bills, including those that will provide funding for property tax relief. The main bill, LB34, includes caps on local spending authority for cities and counties. LB34 also frontloads the Property Income Tax Credit to property tax statements. This means Nebraskans will no longer loan the government money. They will see a direct decrease in taxes paid. That step alone will allow 45 percent of Nebraskans to receive a 20 percent tax savings that they have never realized. That’s a big win.
Most people view out of control valuation increases as the problem. Excess spending is the real issue. Implementing hard caps is a gigantic step in the right direction. This will decrease property tax increases by county and city governments.
Elections matter – and we need more members elected to our legislature who are 100 percent committed to solving our property tax crisis, instead of being duped by paid lobbyists and special interests, in order to get elected to an additional four-year term. We need elected officials to do what is right, in the best interest of our state and the people who live here.
We will be working with new members of the legislature to make sure everyone is focused on representing Nebraskans, and not on special interest groups, to solve the property tax crisis. I challenge the incoming class of senators to put this issue high on their to-do list and to bring their best solutions. On behalf of all Nebraskans – we need to do more.