Overflow crowd turns out for lawmaker-led Omaha event on Pillen plan, property tax relief

Five Omaha-area senators and two lawmakers from Lincoln and Bellevue host a listening session on property taxes in Omaha on Sunday, July 21, 2024. From left, State Sens. Carol Blood, Christy Armendariz, Jane Raybould, Merv Riepe, Terrell McKinney, John Cavanaugh and Machaela Cavanaugh. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

OMAHA — About 300 people turned out for a “listening session” in Nebraska’s biggest city Sunday, many taking aim at Gov. Jim Pillen’s ideas on property tax relief and at him for skipping Omaha on his earlier 26-city tour to seek support.

The governor did not attend the lawmaker-led event during which seven state senators from the Omaha metro area and Lincoln heard from the group for two hours.

Some of those gathered at the University of Nebraska at Omaha alumni center spilled into a hallway. Others stood in the back as testifiers made their way to a microphone that faced Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh, Terrell McKinney, Merv Riepe, Christy Armendariz, Jane Raybould, Carol Blood and John Cavanaugh.

Local control of schools

One of the speakers, Marcia Anderson, roused applause when she suggested sarcastically that maybe eastern Nebraska should secede from the state.

Like several others who spoke, she wants public schools to remain in local control, noting that needs are different from one district to another. Anderson was opposed to any notion that the state take on most of public K-12 school spending rather than funding schools through local property taxes.

“Our (governor) cares not for the eastern part of our state, so why would we give him control of our schools?” she asked.

To be sure, a common refrain among those who spoke aligned with Pillen’s premise that property taxes have been rising, at times pushing people out of their own homes, and that the state needed to pursue ways to lift that burden.

“We all recognize that property taxes are too high,” Raybould said.

The question, she and testifiers said, was how best to remedy that.

Several offered ways to generate additional revenue, including: legalizing and taxing marijuana, cutting government waste, and reviewing the state income tax and public incentives such as tax-increment financing.

Others suggested looking at ways to reduce the burden for certain vulnerable populations, such as seniors, via the homestead exemption.

Rout out wasteful spending

Tracee Baker of Bennington said she moved into her home seven years ago and was tired of her property tax bill increasing.

She agreed with Armendariz’s comments that the state should also look out wasteful government spending, and pointed to several recent state auditor reports calling out mismanagement of public funds, questionable overtime costs and more in various state agencies.

“There is waste in government,” said Baker. “Let’s do something about it.”

Another speaker, Tricia Westergard said she was tired of local governments getting a “windfall” when homeowner property tax collections go up with home valuations — yet levies aren’t lowered accordingly.

“It’s not fair,” she said.

Of at least one solution, Westergard added: “Hard levy caps come to mind.”

Fred Robertson, a retired educator who lives in Ralston, said that while he has watched his property taxes rise significantly, he first considers the “common good” and those who need the most help.

“I have never begrudged paying taxes for public schools,” he said. “I’ve learned I should consider the common good before I make a decision.”

Cole Pfeifer agreed, saying he was opposed to shifting the burden to sales and use taxes that would have a disproportionately negative impact on lower-income people.

“It reminds me of the phrase: ‘It’s expensive to be poor,’” said Pfeifer.

‘Nebraska’s Plan’

The crowd gathered just three days after Pillen made public his official property tax relief plan . Upon its release, the governor said that he believes “without a shadow of a doubt” that it will garner more than enough bipartisan support during the special legislative session that is to begin July 25.

Some state senators have criticized what the governor calls “Nebraska’s Plan,” saying it leaves questions unanswered, promotes ideas that aren’t sustainable and doesn’t provide examples to support his contention that it would result in a “net tax decrease.”

Riepe told the group Sunday that he, too, wants to see property tax reduction. “But I don’t believe in the ‘jump and the net will appear’ philosophy,” he said.

Some state lawmakers have indicated they will introduce competing proposals to lift the weight of property taxes.

Pillen needs 33 votes in the 49-member Legislature to pass legislation.

Last week he addressed briefly why Omaha and Lincoln were not on his town hall schedule. He told reporters that he spends up to 70% of his time in the two cities.

“I’m with business leaders in Omaha and Lincoln nonstop,” said Pillen.

Among key elements of Pillen’s plan:

• Putting hard caps on county and municipality property tax collections, either 0% (in times of deflation) or matching the consumer price index, unless voters agree to override the caps. There would be exemptions for growth and public safety needs.
• Funding more than 80% of local K-12 property tax burdens by the state, about $2.6 billion. School tax rates would be reduced from a maximum of about $1.05 per $100 of valuations to 15 cents, 7.5 cents and 0 cents in a three-year period.
• Retooling existing property tax relief programs, including homestead exemptions and property tax credits. A spokesperson for the governor said there would be no cuts to existing homestead exemptions.

• Removing more than 100 sales and use tax exemptions. Food, medicine and raw agricultural and manufacturing materials, along with 70 more goods and services, would continue to be exempt. Most goods and services would be taxed statewide at 5.5 cents per dollar purchase; machinery and equipment would be taxed at a lower, to-be-negotiated rate, with personal property taxes on those items removed.
• Raising “sin” taxes on cigarettes, candy, pop, vaping, spirits, keno gambling, games of skill and consumable hemp.

Local city and county officials attend

A few elected and local government officials spoke as well, including Douglas County Board members Roger Garcia and Mary Ann Borgeson. Commissioner P.J. Morgan also attended.

Mayor Jean Stothert’s chief of staff, Thomas Warren, spoke as well. He said the City of Omaha opposes the 0% hard cap on local governments, saying it would “stifle” the city’s “ability to grow our local economy.”

Borgeson noted that part of the county government’s charge is providing mental and behavioral health care and said she hopes services will not be compromised in any plan.

Other speakers took the opportunity to discuss other issues facing lawmakers.

Alex Nester said he and wife Lia moved to Nebraska 10 years ago because they believed it was an affordable place to raise their family.

He said he is considering moving, not because of property taxes, but for the “tenor” of the last legislative session. In an interview, he elaborated and said he felt the stance some elected officials took on transgender youth was “active persecution.”

According to a person overseeing the reception table at the Omaha event, about 280 people had signed in. She said several had passed by without signing in.

A similar Lincoln listening session is scheduled Monday from 5-8 p.m. at the Wick Alumni Center in Lincoln.

The two lawmaker-led public forums were organized and hosted by a group of  lawmakers who said it would give residents an opportunity to share their thoughts on property taxes before the expected special session.

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