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Nebraska Governor Ricketts remains optimistic on property tax relief

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts says he remains optimistic the legislature will agree on property tax relief this year, even though a bill he supports received very mixed reviews at a hearing last week.

“We need to get something done this legislative session. I think the senators understand the urgency of it. So I’m optimistic we’ll be able to get this all pulled together,” Ricketts says.

LB 974 would lower Nebraska’s property taxes by shifting more state aid to schools. Ag groups support the measure, but the state’s largest schools oppose it. They’re concerned state funding won’t keep up with their rising expenses. 

“We’ve got 244 school districts and they’re very different school districts—so there’s still some more work on the details left to do,” Ricketts says. “But at the end of the day, this is supposed to be about a tax relief program.”

In an interview with Brownfield, Ricketts also discussed a new proposal for a consumption tax to replace sales, income and property taxes, and the petition drive to place a billion-dollar property tax reduction initiative on the November ballot.