Draft of Pillen tax plan would change to the way the state supports its schools

While there have been plenty of rumors and conjecture, until this week almost no one outside of the Governor’s working group knew exactly what his plan is to lower property taxes.

Lawmakers close to the process have teased a few details but have mostly remained tight lipped on any specifics.

“The encouraging thing from my end is we are discussing more property tax reform rather than property tax relief. It’s a different direction that we have gone” said Senator Ben Hansen, a member of the Governor’s working group.

But on Sunday the Nebraska Examiner’s Zach Wendling published an article detailing a draft of the plan.

We reached out to confirm the draft was indeed from the working group.

Some of the details we already knew, the governor is aggressively targeting sales tax exemptions along with state budget cuts.

The plan also targets local and county spending caps, calling for a 0% increase in annual property taxes during deflationary times as determined by the consumer price index.

“Its always seemed like in the past we have looked for ways to help people with the property tax burden as opposed to actually fixing the property tax burden. Like looking at the causes of why property taxes are really high,” said Hansen.

The most drastic change in the draft is phasing out property taxes from school funding.

Pillen’s plan would have the state take over school operating budgets, including teacher salaries. That would cost the state more than a billion dollars in the plan’s first year.

Schools could still assess property taxes under the new plan if the state fails to meet their budget needs but only if the plans are approved by voters.

The plan, even in its draft, has received sharp criticisms from many in the Unicameral.

In a tweet Senator Julie Slama worried that Pillen’s plan could “tax the average Nebraskan to death then tax them again for burial”

Others have been critical of Pillen’s process.

He has hosted dozens of town halls to encourage voters to pressure their senators to support his plan but none of those town halls took place in the state’s largest cities.

“Rather than taking that lesson to heart, the Governor has chosen to barnstorm the state for the past two months and try and convince citizens and senators that his reverse-robin hood tax plan is a good idea,” said Lincoln Senator Danielle Conrad.