Nebraska’s property taxes have risen to fourth highest in the United States, according to a 2025 study from the Tax Foundation using 2023 tax data. Illinois (1.83%) has the highest taxes as a share of home value, followed closely by New Jersey (1.77%). Following New Jersey is Connecticut (1.48%) which is only slightly higher than...
Nebraska’s Truth-in-Taxation season brings surprises each year, shining a light on local government tax increases. That’s because Nebraska’s Truth-in-Taxation law requires local governments to notify property owners of proposed tax increases as a prelude to public hearings about the tax proposals. Residents of Omaha were hit with another set of unsustainable tax increases in 2025, as...
Tune in to the latest episode of Nebraskanomics as we welcome the 41st Governor of the State of Nebraska, Governor Jim Pillen. During the episode Governor Pillen and Platte Institute Chief Executive Officer Jim Vokal discuss how we provide property tax reform for Nebraskans, the importance of making the most of federal funds, and what’s...
Utah passed the nation’s first Truth-in-Taxation (TNT) law in 1985, giving the Beehive State 40 years to refine and finesse their property tax program. Nebraska has adopted a similar law which can be improved by adjusting the schedule for when Truth-in-Taxation hearings occur so that the TNT process precedes budget adoption. Utah’s tax transparency procedure...
The Occupational Board Reform Act (OBRA) was passed in 2018 and became effective in 2019. It requires legislative committees of jurisdiction to review all occupational licenses in the state, roughly 20% per year, on a five-year rotation. These reviews examine whether the licensing requirements are adequate or excessive by current standards. The committees then submit...
Nebraska lawmakers can deliver stronger transparency and greater tax relief by consolidating and tightening Nebraska’s property tax caps. Nebraska has both a Truth-In-Taxation (TNT) transparency law and property tax caps for K-12 school districts and then separate caps for all other local governments. By comparison, several less-fiscally-responsible states impose more strict property tax caps. Nebraska...
[Note: This is the final in a series of Research Notes by Platte’s intern, focusing on county zoning and agriculture issues. A full paper dealing with these issues will be published later this fall.] Over the past decade, Nebraska’s legislature has repeatedly sought to address issues related to the Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) and Special...
[Note: This is the fifth in a series of Research Notes by Platte’s intern, focusing on county zoning and agriculture issues. The final (sixth) note will include discussion of a bill currently before the Legislature.] In addition to Iowa, Nebraska’s other neighboring states have faced zoning challenges related to permitting new livestock operations. While Iowa...
A recent post on substack authored by Dr. Ed Timmons caught our eye. This particular post highlighted rankings of universal recognition laws for occupational licenses around the country, and Nebraska met the “Gold Standard” as can be seen from the image below. This image is just one of many to be found in the most...
Nebraska’s education funding has historically been heavily weighted on the property tax, but that is beginning to change. Through new sources of funding and property tax offsets, the implicit state funding of education is growing rapidly. Over the last decade, state aid through the TEEOSA formula has increased by $200 million. Meanwhile, property tax funding...
Property tax relief is always top of the agenda in Lincoln, as Nebraskans struggle under the weight of one of the nation’s heaviest property tax burdens. Nebraska should target two taxes to take off the rolls, and two technical changes to restructure the property tax system to deliver better relief. Currently, Nebraska puts $1 billion...
Texas Governor Greg Abbott called lawmakers back for a special session to address Texas’ property tax burden. In his special session proclamation, Abbott has asked lawmakers to focus on two complementary items. The first is allocating more state money to reduce property taxes, and the second is to impose more strict spending restraints on local...
President Trump’s second term will be remembered for the rapid re-ordering of global supply chains. Trump’s tariffs target the reshoring of industrial production, and his tax plan in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) provides massive tax incentives to make capital expenditures in the United States. Nebraska has an opportunity to put itself at the...