Nebraska state lawmakers pass a bill bringing property tax relief to its residents.
Late last week, the state’s lawmakers passed a bill titled The Grand Compromise. Nebraska Cattlemen Association’s VP of legal and government affairs, Jessica Herrmann, says that it is a good initial step for property tax relief to the state’s farmers and ranchers.
“Truly a monumental, historic tax relief that the state has ever taken... After five years when it’s fully funded, we’re going to see about $650 million dollars a year in property tax relief and that is truly extraordinary,” Herrmann states. “However, we are just talking about relief; we haven’t crossed that reform path.”
Nebraska Farm Bureau president Steve Nelson calls the bill’s passage a big step for not only agriculture but for city and town resident as well: “The passage of 1107 is really a big step towards adding additional property tax relief for farmers and ranchers, who really do need and deserve property tax relief. It also provides property tax relief to those outside of agriculture, who need property tax relief as well.”
However, Herrmann states that there is more work to do. “We still have a problem in our state of, particularly, over relying on property tax payers to fund K-12 public education... There’s a lot of work to be done. Now, we have these large pots of money that are going to be growing,” she adds.