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Nebraska ag groups applaud ‘positive progress’ on property tax relief
Nebraska Farm Bureau president Steve Nelson says Thursday’s passage of LB 1107 by the Nebraska legislature will provide significant and “much needed” property tax relief to farmers and ranchers.
Nelson tells Brownfield that the bill, when fully implemented, will more than double the amount of money in the state’s property tax credit fund.
“Our projections show right around a 15 percent reduction in property taxes paid, or relief for property taxes, when this proposal is fully implemented, which is around a five-year time period,” Nelson says. “Of course, while everyone would like to have more and would like to have it sooner, that’s a pretty significant improvement from where we’re at. And that’s on top of the existing property tax credit fund that is already there.”
While the measure is not the comprehensive property tax reform that Farm Bureau and other ag groups have long pushed for, Nelson says it is “positive progress in delivering relief”. He says his group will continue to look for long-term solutions to alleviate pressure from property taxes.
Nebraska Cattlemen (NC) also applauded the bill’s passage, calling it a “major victory”.
“Today’s action is the beginning of finally reversing the disproportionate burden placed on the backs of agricultural property owners in Nebraska,” said NC president Ken Herz. “Going forward, our members remain committed to enacting long-term, systematic reform of Nebraska’s property tax structure—particularly on the over-reliance on property taxes to support K-12 public education.”
