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Gov. Ricketts Falls City visit

By John Nixon

08/15/2019

(KLZA)-- Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts was in Falls City Tuesday to meet with area citizens.

Now in the midst of his second term as Governor, Ricketts says his administration has a plan to “Grow Nebraska.”

Step one is to create more and better paying jobs which will entice people to move here and make Nebraska their home. Second is to run the state government like a business, becoming more effective and more efficient. Third is to control spending and be good stewards of tax-payer dollars and finally, promote ourselves to let the world know Nebraska is a great place to live.

There were questions from the audience ranging from medical marijuana, school financing, issues with transmitting power to certain parts of the state including Falls City, the Medicaid program and the effect tariffs are having on goods exported from the state.

Two topics that always come up across the state are high property taxes and a the topic that goes hand-in-hand with them, state aid to schools.

Ricketts says even though most school districts no longer receive state aid due to property valuations, the state is providing a large amount of funding to local entities.

The Governor noted that more than two-billion dollars of the approximately $4.5-billion state budget does go back to local entities in one form or another. The funding goes to homestead exemptions, school aid, property tax credit relief and aid to local government.