Tax Policy

Property tax relief should focus on cutting school levies

Property tax relief should focus on cutting school levies

Governor Jim Pillen seeks to cut Nebraska property taxes by 40% through a tax package that includes raising new state tax revenues in order to fund local property tax cuts. Gov. Pillen seeks $2 billion in new property tax relief balanced against $5.3 billion in total property taxes. In Platte Institute’s assessment of the options...

By Michael Lucci

The unintended consequences of cigarette tax increases

The unintended consequences of cigarette tax increases

Sin taxes are levied on products that are believed to have a societal cost. And tobacco products are a frequent target for sin taxes. Yet ironically, high cigarette taxes create their own societal costs because they result in illicit interstate smuggling and criminal behavior. A pack of cigarettes in Chicago includes a whopping $7.16 in...

By Michael Lucci

Keep prices low and businesses competitive by avoiding taxation on business purchases

Keep prices low and businesses competitive by avoiding taxation on business purchases

A well-structured retail sales tax raises revenue with minimal distortion to economic decision-making.  While the income tax creates a disincentivize to work, save, and invest, the sales tax does not create these disincentives. Therefore, the retail sales tax raises revenue with comparably less economic cost than income taxes.   Nebraska’s retail sales tax ranks #9 for...

By Michael Lucci

Governor Pillen’s Property Tax Plans: Options and Tradeoffs

Governor Pillen’s Property Tax Plans: Options and Tradeoffs

Governor Pillen has pitched a sequel to his historic 2023 income tax cuts. The 2023 reforms slashed top income tax rates by a third, and for his 2024 follow-up, Pillen has proposed cutting property taxes by 40% across Nebraska.  When lawmakers convened in Lincoln in the spring of 2023, they had surpluses on hand for...

By Michael Lucci

Governor Jim Pillen’s Tax Triumphs and the Future of Tax Reform

Governor Jim Pillen’s Tax Triumphs and the Future of Tax Reform

Governor Jim Pillen inherited a historic opportunity for tax reform in Nebraska. Revenues surged during the pandemic recovery, creating unprecedented surpluses for the Cornhusker State. Nebraska leaders had maintained years of disciplined spending, setting the table for Pillen’s plan.  Gov. Pillen was the man for the moment in 2023, and he delivered a transformational tax...

By Michael Lucci

Principles of Good Tax Policy

Principles of Good Tax Policy

I recently had the opportunity of catching up with David Brunori whom I worked with extensively on the Blueprint Nebraska Tax Modernization plan. David is nationally known as a journalist, author, educator, and lawyer who specializes in state and local tax policy.   In our podcast hosted by Jim Vokal and the Platte Institute, David and...

By Jim Smith

Full Expensing for Nebraska in 2024

Full Expensing for Nebraska in 2024

Full expensing is the ideal tax policy to help Nebraska catalyze economic growth, attract capital investment, and re-shore supply chains in 2024.  Full expensing allows a business to write off the cost of new investment immediately rather than spreading out investment cost recovery over as long as 20 years. It is a subtle change that...

By Michael Lucci

Nebraska’s Path to the Top Ten, Four More Years of Tax Reform

Nebraska’s Path to the Top Ten, Four More Years of Tax Reform

To download the full “Nebraska’s Path to the Top Ten Report” click here. Summary  Nebraska entered 2022 with one of the least-competitive tax systems in a highly competitive region. But then a structural surge in tax revenues was utilized by lawmakers to perform Nebraska’s two-year tax transformation. Across two governors and two years, Nebraska lawmakers...

By Michael Lucci

Tax reform is still in the air in Nebraska

Tax reform is still in the air in Nebraska

Writing in the pages of National Review, Platte CEO Jim Vokal and I described Nebraska’s 2023 tax reform as the best in the nation. Property taxes and income taxes were both cut and reformed in 2023. And that’s not all. Coupled with meaningful reforms in 2022, the total two-year tax relief will be worth $3000...

By Michael Lucci

How the state legislature can address Nebraska’s rising home values

How the state legislature can address Nebraska’s rising home values

Nebraska policymakers are being called upon to address a problem that afflicts nearly every state across the country. Rapidly rising property values are stressing homeowners, particularly when property taxes rise proportionate to property values. As a result, homeowners are turning to public officials for solutions.   It is fair to say that this problem exists in...

By Michael Lucci

Next steps for Nebraska after nation’s best tax reform

Next steps for Nebraska after nation’s best tax reform

Nebraska led the states with the nation’s best tax reform in 2023, overhauling its income tax and property tax in one fell swoop. Nebraska’s individual and business income tax will both fall to 3.99% in coming years, boosting the state’s competitiveness in the nation’s most tax-competitive region.  Nebraska’s fiscal accomplishments in 2023 will naturally leave...

By Michael Lucci

Southeast Community College Board votes to raise property taxes by 40%

Southeast Community College Board votes to raise property taxes by 40%

Property owners in southeast Nebraska should brace for sticker shock ahead of next year’s property tax bills. The Board of Governors for the Southeast Community College system (SCC) voted on Tuesday to raise property taxes by roughly 40% across the 15-county service area, according to coverage by the Lincoln Journal Star. Tuesday’s preliminary approval will...

By Michael Lucci

Property Tax Paradox: How Nebraska’s Increased Valuations Impact You

Property Tax Paradox: How Nebraska’s Increased Valuations Impact You

Many Nebraskans (this writer included) took big gulps when they opened their property valuation notices this past week. In Crete, our valuations went up 23%.   While we can understand the increase in valuations because property sales have risen, and property valuations are based on market value, these increased values also have the possibility to significantly...

By Laura Ebke

States should compete within America’s highly progressive tax and redistribution system

States should compete within America’s highly progressive tax and redistribution system

State and local governments are on the front lines of providing core government services. They are also on the front lines of competing for jobs and economic growth. Therefore, state fiscal policy should produce revenue for core government services by applying low, competitive tax rates to a broad tax base with limited exemptions. That is...

By Michael Lucci