Watermeier Wants 10 Times More Property Tax Relief

LINCOLN -- State Sen. Dan Watermeier remarked on his proposal for $10 in property tax relief for every $1 in income tax relief in his weekly legislative update. He said tax cuts are proposed despite the lastest projection of a $173 million revenue shortfall by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board. He said the revenue crunch has worsened with the Department of Health and Human Services seeiking an additional $50 million for higher than expected child welfare costs and lower federal funding for Medicaid. [audio mp3="http://media3.floodradio.com/columbus/2018/01/Watermeier-cuts-difficult.mp3"][/audio] Watermeier: “Since the Legislature last year faced more than $1 billion in revenue shortfalls, making additional cuts will be difficult.” Even with the projected budget shortfall, many senators are still pushing for tax relief. Gov. Pete Ricketts is working on alterations to LB 461, which was introduced last year to provide income and property tax relief. It stalled when senators couldn’t reach a consensus on whether property tax relief or income tax relief should be prioritized. [audio mp3="http://media3.floodradio.com/columbus/2018/01/Watermier-10-relief.mp3"][/audio] Watermeier: “I pushed for $10 of property tax relief for every $1 of income tax relief.” Watermeier remarked on other tax proposals, including Sen. Steve Erdman’s bill to refund state income taxes up to 50 percent of property taxes paid to support local schools. [audio mp3="http://media3.floodradio.com/columbus/2018/01/Watermeir-erdman-tax-bill.mp3"][/audio] 6500088-102 mp3 88a2 “It is estimated that this proposal will provide $1.1 billion in property tax relief, however the legislation does not address how the state is to fund it. Likewise, Trent Fellers, with Reform for Nebraska’s Future, has submitted similar language to the Nebraska Secretary of State for an Initiative Petition. If sufficient signatures are gathered, it would be placed on the general election ballot in November for Nebraskans to vote on. Watermeier will continue to serve as chair of the executive board this year. The board supervises legislative services and its employees. Full update   [audio mp3="http://media3.floodradio.com/columbus/2018/01/Watermeier-full-update.mp3"][/audio]