How Nebraska Can Improve Truth-in-Taxation: Lessons from Utah’s Property Tax Reform
How Nebraska Can Improve Truth-in-Taxation: Lessons from Utah’s Property Tax Reform
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...
Tightening Nebraska’s Property Tax Caps for Real Relief
Tightening Nebraska’s Property Tax Caps for Real Relief
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...
Research Note: current efforts to address ag zoning issues
Research Note: current efforts to address ag zoning issues
[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...
By Jakob Myers
Research Note: Nebraska’s Neighboring States’ conditional use permitting processes
Research Note: Nebraska’s Neighboring States’ conditional use permitting processes
[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...
By Jakob Myers
Nebraska’s State Funding for K-12 Education Has Doubled Since 2020
Nebraska’s State Funding for K-12 Education Has Doubled Since 2020
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...
Nebraska’s Top Property Tax Targets
Nebraska’s Top Property Tax Targets
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 Pursues Property Tax Reforms in Special Session
Texas Pursues Property Tax Reforms in Special Session
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...
How Nebraska Can Lead Industrial Reshoring with Full Expensing
How Nebraska Can Lead Industrial Reshoring with Full Expensing
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...
Research Note: Livestock siting assessment and the Iowa case study
Research Note: Livestock siting assessment and the Iowa case study
[Note: This is the fourth in a series of Research Notes by Platte’s summer intern, focusing on county zoning and agriculture issues] Thirteen years before Nebraska developed its Livestock Siting Assessment Matrix, its neighbor, Iowa, implemented a similar tool. In 2002, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) introduced a scoring system, known as the...
By Jakob Myers
Research Note: Use of the Nebraska Livestock Matrix
Research Note: Use of the Nebraska Livestock Matrix
Introduced in 2015, the Nebraska Livestock Matrix is a tool designed to help counties evaluate proposed livestock operations seeking conditional use or special exception permits. Created to promote consistency across county lines in the permitting process, the committee tasked with developing the matrix faced two significant challenges in aligning its objectives. First, the tool needed...
By Jakob Myers