Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Back in the day, the Omaha World-Herald provided me with a company car and the instructions: "Drive across the state and find some stories." It was obviously a more formal command than that, something like, "If you like your job, you'll write something interesting." It was an incredible adventure in various vintages of Ford Taurus'. On the road, you realize that there are fascinating stories – sometimes tragic and sad, sometimes heart-warming and uplifting – in every corner of the state. You rec...
The Legislature concluded the special session that was called to relieve property taxes on Aug. 20. After a contentious start, senators agreed to compromise on legislation that will frontload the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act credits from LB1107 (2020) directly onto taxpayer’s property tax statements, trim and adjust the state budget by $185 million and tighten existing property tax levy caps for counties, cities and villages to the greater of inflation or 0%. Of the 81 bills and 24 r...
State lawmakers have long since finished their long, 17-day special session in Lincoln and headed back home. The summer session unfolded as a lot of people, including me, expected - a lot of ideas for reducing property taxes were discussed, but only a small, incremental change, one that will result in a 3% drop in property taxes for some taxpayers, was passed. As we've discussed before, reducing property taxes, while a noble and needed move, is a complicated task and requires an adept hike...
This week, the Legislature took up the issues of property taxes and adjustments to the state budget. Much of the focus remained on the package crafted by the Revenue Committee and attached to LB34 by Senator Brewer in place of LB1 and LB9. In a long day of constant changes, LB34 was originally intended to resemble LB1 and LB9. During debate, several concerns were raised, including counties and municipalities who opposed the proposed caps, schools that were hesitant that the Legislature could...
NOXIOUS WEEDS MUST BE CONTROLLED You are required to control noxious weeds on your property. The noxious weeds are: Musk Thistle, Plumeless Thistle, Canada Thistle, Leafy Spurge, Knapweed (spotted and diffuse), Purple Loosestrife, Saltcedar, Phragmites, Knotweed (Japanese and Giant) and Sericea Lespedeza. Notice is hereby given this 21st day of August, 2024, pursuant to the Noxious Weed Control Act, section 2-955, subsection 1(a), to every person who owns or controls land in Antelope County, Nebraska, that noxious weeds being grown, or growing...
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen says he has no plans to call the Legislature back into special session this year to consider additional property tax relief after final passage Tuesday of a pared-down proposal. Rather than rush lawmakers back to Lincoln for more changes yet this year, as the governor discussed during bill negotiations, he said he would wait until the next regular session begins in January. He also repeated his stance that he does not expect to call a special session for shifting the...
As we all know, state legislators have been called back to Lincoln for a special session this summer to tackle the state's high property taxes. As has been written here before, good luck with that. It's easy to gripe about property taxes being too high; much more difficult to lower them without shifting the tax load onto someone else. But we need to talk about something that we also all gripe about – gasoline prices. I'm one of those guys who scans the countryside for the cheapest gas p...
This week, the Legislature concluded bill introduction and public hearings in this special session. Generally, in a special session, few bills are introduced and public hearings are finished in a couple of days. In this special session, a total of 81 bills and 24 constitutional amendments were introduced during three days of bill introduction, the most proposed during any special session since 1937. The large number of introduced proposals required six days of public hearings. Speaker Arch...
Summer is usually a relaxing time in Lincoln. College students have left, state lawmakers have gone home, the weather gets hot, the backyard tomatoes get ripe, and the biggest debate around town is whether this is the year the Huskers become relevant again in football. Optimism always abounds in the pre-season, before the first kickoff. But not sure the same optimism accompanies the special session Gov. Jim Pillen has convened to address the state's traditionally high property taxes. Every...
As introduced, Gov. Jim Pillen’s core property tax relief proposal could fall short by $139 million in annual estimated revenue needed. Pillen’s main proposal, introduced through Legislative Bill 1 in the special session, includes placing a sales tax on more than 100 currently tax-exempt goods and services. It would also raise seven “sin” taxes, on candy and soft drinks, vapes, cigarettes, keno gambling, spirits, consumable hemp and games of skill. In total, the new or increased taxes would raise an estimated $1.15 billion in the first full fis...
As expected, the governor called the Legislature into special session on Wednesday, July 24 to enact legislation relating to property tax relief and school funding. The Legislature convened on Thursday, July 25. Deviating from the preannounced schedule, Speaker Arch chose to not bring the Legislature back into session on Saturday to allow the Revisor of Statutes’ Office more time to prepare new drafts of bills and constitutional amendments. The governor’s package is composed of three bills: LB1...
The message from Clearwater residents is overwhelmingly clear: fix the streets. "We've been researching different options and trying to figure out a way to start improving the streets. When we went through the surveys done for the Downtown Revitalization project, and the housing grant two years ago, streets were the No. 1 concern of citizens of the community," said Clearwater Economic Development Director Lauren Sheridan. Navigating Clearwater's business corridor may get a whole lot smoother if...
As you may have read or heard, Governor Pillen announced his intention to call the Legislature back in special session relating to property taxes beginning July 25 until “unfinished business” is resolved. On the last day of session, the Legislature did not take a final vote on the session’s property tax package since that bill’s introducer did not believe they had the votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. Since the Legislature adjourned, senators, including myself, have spent countless hours...
By the time you read this, state senators are expected to be trudging back to Lincoln for a special session on property tax relief. The word "trudging" reflects the general distaste senators have for special sessions, which disrupts the lives of these part-time, underpaid ($12,000 a year plus all you can eat and drink) lawmakers. Generally, special sessions are called to address emergencies, such as a court ruling that renders laws or taxes untenable, or an economic downturn that requires...
Every candidate for governor always promises two things – to cut property taxes, and eliminate the “waste” in state spending. Both of those pledges are awfully easy to make -- and play well on a TV ad -- and much harder to achieve. Current Gov. Jim Pillen is finding that out this year with his property tax reduction ideas. But he’s adopted a different tactic in cutting the fat from state spending by hiring a high-priced consultant to suggest reductions. He enlisted Epiphany Associates, a Utah-ba...
PROCEEDINGS VILLAGE OF PAGE, NEBRASKA The regular monthly meeting of the Village Board of Page was held Monday, July 8, 2024, at the village office. This meeting was conducted in compliance with the Nebraska Open Meetings Act and the Open Meeting Laws are posted at the village office. Chair Linquist called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Trustees VanEvery, Tyrrell, Leichleiter and Campbell present. Also present: Bill Fox, Doug Cunningham, Heath Wilson and Cora Calkins. Absent: None. Motion by Tyrrell, second by Campbell: Approve minutes of...
Earlier this year, the governor and the Legislature tried and failed to develop a workable plan to reduce Nebraska property taxes through increases in sales taxes. Now, as decision-makers in Lincoln consider coming together in a special session, the options on the table still focus on using sales taxes to pay for cuts in property taxes. Why? Decisions made in the Legislature in 2023 shape what's possible now. In 2023, the Legislature used a historic budget surplus of $1.9 billion to cut income...
Back in the day, a small, "trial balloon" would be sent aloft to discern wind speed and direction before a balloon carrying people was launched. Folks were rightly concerned about rising into the heavens blindly, without knowing if a catastrophic whirlwind was aloft. Right now, we're seeing plenty of trial balloons sent aloft by Gov. Jim Pillen to determine if a plan to dramatically reduce local property taxes might have a shot at success during his special session, scheduled to start July 25....
Many have tried, and few have succeeded in expanding the state’s sales tax base by taxing things now exempt from taxation. But that is where Gov. Jim Pillen is venturing in his pursuit of property tax relief. His initial plan, which failed to win approval in the state Legislature this spring, would have imposed new taxes on a host of items that could be labeled “low-hanging fruit.” I mean who’s going to get upset if we start imposing taxes on edibles infused with hemp, those slot machine...
Let's face it, Nebraska has high property taxes, the seventh highest in the country according to the Tax Foundation, which tracks such things. "Lots of land, not a lot of people," has always been the catchphrase, which translates into a higher burden of property taxes. But I almost fell out of my chair when Gov. Jim Pillen proposed, initially, to raise the state's sales taxes by two cents to achieve property tax relief. Never did I imagine that a conservative Republican governor would propose a...
Welcome to a new corner of your newspaper. For years, this column has been called "Capitol View" and for the past several years, it's been written by J.L. Schmidt, an old buddy and former Associated Press reporter at the Lincoln Bureau who could turn a phrase or two. Before that, it was written by someone named "Melvin Paul," who was really a long line of statehouse reporters (including me) who penned a weekly missive using the nom de plume about happenings from the "Hall of Hot Winds," an old...
Orchard village trustees approved modifying a decision regarding painting at the community center when they met in regular session, May 14. At a May 2 special meeting, trustees approved a quote from Timmerman’s Painting, of O’Neill, in the amount of $7,061, for painting the gym, bathrooms, lobby, vestibule and heating, ventilation and air conditioning duct work at the community center. Following discussion on May 14, Tyson Schutt made a motion to modify the original motion to purchase paint fro...
REGULAR PROCEEDINGS VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER BOARD OF TRUSTEES May 13, 2024 The Board of Trustees of the Village of Clearwater met for a regular meeting Monday, May 13, at 7 p.m., in the fire hall meeting room. Meeting opened at 7 p.m. Notice of meeting was given in advance by publication in Summerland Advocate-Messenger, was posted at US Post Office in Clearwater, Clearwater Market and Cornerstone Bank-Clearwater and was given to board members prior to meeting. Public was informed of location of Open Meeting Act poster. Present: Kelly Kerkman, Co...
Term limits claim 13 Nebraska state senators while two are leaving for other reasons. That'll mean 15 new faces in the nation's only one-house nonpartisan legislature come January. I've made it clear before how I feel about term limits. I don't like them. This isn't the Washington, DC, swamp. This is Nebraska, one of those mostly square states out west where it's not that hard to vote somebody out of office. It has worked for years. Then along came the two-term limit, eight years, and...
In 2021, the last special session of the Nebraska Legislature lasted 13 days and cost the state $105,436. Do the math, that's $8,076.92 per day. Then ask yourself, is a winner-take-all election measure, which would bring Nebraska into the same fold as 48 other states, worth the money. For that matter, is a so-called solution to the state's property tax problems worth it? They're bantering the words "special session" around like it's nothing short of expected. Gov. Jim Pillen says he will call a...
