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Senator Watermeier Promoting Property Tax Relief

By John Nixon

03/21/2017

(KLZA)-- First District State Senator Dan Watermeier of Syracuse says it is critical that Nebraska come up with a way to relieve the property tax burden on Nebraska’s farmers.

A recent report indicates ag values and farm income are headed in opposite directions of the local property tax requirements. While ag land is decreasing, it is not dropping as fast as farm income has fallen. In addition, local taxing authorities have continued to increase property taxes on farmland, despite sharply dropping farm earnings. In 2013 and 14, assessed values of farmland in a 10-state region increased an 11.4 percent while farm earnings dipped 18 percent.

During the same time period, school spending per student was increased by more than 3 percent, while in Nebraska, the spending per student increased 7.3 percent, the highest among the 10 states.

Watermeier says despite this information, some Senators as well as Governor Ricketts, are focusing on income tax relief as well as property tax relief. Watermeir, a farmer himself, says the only one way he will support income tax relief, is if for every dollar of income tax relief the property tax relief is $10.

Watermeier serves on the Legislatures Appropriations Committee and says cuts need to be made at the state level as well as the local level. He noted the state if facing a billion-dollar shortfall.

Without spending cuts, the only answer is an increase in taxes, which the Senator says nobody wants.

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