Statehouse budget debate begins

Last week, we began debate on the budget, after receiving a briefing from the Appropriations Committee chairman, Senator Stinner. The budget for the next year calls for an increase in the general fund expenditures of roughly $9.7 billion, growing by around 1.7% per year from previous budgets. Key provisions of the budget include substantial increases to several funds.

The most important of these increases are the two funds relating to property tax relief. The proposed budget increases the Property Tax Credit Fund by $25 million in the next fiscal year and by an additional $13 million in the following fiscal year. This property tax credit is the one you see on your property tax statement as a reduction in your property taxes.

I have a bill which would lock in this increase, to a total of $313 million, with an annual increase of 3% per year thereafter.

The Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act is the income tax credit which was included in LB 1107 from last year and which you receive when filing your state income taxes. The budget this year calls for it to be raised from $125 million to $313 million for the next two years. So the amount of your income tax credit based on property taxes paid should be roughly 2.5 times higher for the next couple of years than what it was this year, and should continue to grow after that.

There’s also been robust debate about the governor’s proposal for a new prison. It would cost $230 million. I’m reluctant to spend those kinds of dollars on a new prison, unless absolutely necessary. With an amendment to the budget, we did commit some state dollars to developing plans for a new facility, but with the final decision pending further study of the issue.

There are also appropriations in the budget to fund the state agencies which carry out the work of government in the State of Nebraska, amounting to around $1.6 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget also calls for just over $1 billion dollars for the state TEEOSA program, which is the state aid program for schools. For the most part, only the largest school districts in the state, in urban areas, will benefit from these dollars.

As always, feel free to contact my office with any comments or questions on legislation and issues facing Nebraskans. My office phone is 402-471-2631, and my email is [email protected].