The Nebraska Department of Revenue has released the June 2021 state tax revenue report. This report is especially important because it includes figures for the last month of the fiscal year, which runs July 1 to June 30. For the month of June, all major tax categories were above the forecasted amount for both gross...
The Nebraska Department of Revenue tracks historical property valuations for each of Nebraska’s 93 counties. Overall, there are three major categories of property that are tracked: residential, commercial, and agricultural. All three experienced growth over the last decade. Most notably, agriculture valuations grew almost twice as much as residential property values. The interactive maps below...
Every state has a peer group they look to. Typically, it includes neighboring states. In Nebraska’s case, Missouri is a comparable peer. Some of the attributes we might look at are Missouri’s similar agricultural economy, but also their much lower property taxes. But when it comes to economics and growth, even states that are not...
Starting today, Nebraskans will be paying slightly less tax on a gallon of gas. Every six months, the state Department of Revenue reevaluates the motor fuel tax. The overall gas tax is decreasing from 28.7 cents per gallon to 27.7 cents per gallon. This comes after a 4.5 cent decline at the beginning of the...
Traditionally, Louisiana has severely lagged behind other states in the area of tax policy, consistently ranking in the bottom ten states on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. However, Louisiana’s state legislature recently passed an impressive tax reform package to modernize the state’s tax code. The package consists of six bills aimed at...
What happens to your soul after you die is a matter of faith, but in Nebraska, what happens to your property after death is a matter of cold, hard fact. With our neighbors in Iowa recently passing a law to phase out its inheritance tax, Nebraska is on track to be one of only five...
The property tax transparency law called Truth in Taxation is new to Nebraska, but a similar law has been on the books in Utah since 1985. Two Utah-based experts, Rusty Cannon of the Utah Taxpayers Association, and former Utah state Sen. Howard Stephenson, join Jim to discuss how the policy has worked in the Beehive...
Nebraska’s state tax revenues remain above projections as the state continues its rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the most recent Nebraska Department of Revenue news release, gross revenues for the month of May 2021 were $892 million or 72.6% above the certified forecast. Net revenues for the month were $720 million, which is...
As summer begins and finalized property valuations land in many Nebraska mailboxes, county assessors can take an undue share of the blame for what looks to be an unavoidable—and sometimes major—increase in property tax bills. But in a recent Omaha World-Herald letter to the editor, Douglas County Assessor and Register of Deeds Diane Battiato appropriately...
Thanks to a comprehensive tax reform bill (SF 619), Iowa has successfully set a date for repealing its inheritance tax. Iowa will phase down the tax by 20% each year until it is repealed in 2025, leaving only 5 states in the nation left with an inheritance tax. Among them, Nebraska has the highest rate...
The first session of the 107th Nebraska Legislature has adjourned Sine Die, concluding regular legislative business in Lincoln until 2022. Now that all the legislating (except the forthcoming special session on redistricting) is complete, let’s summarize some of the ways senators expanded economic opportunities and freedoms for Nebraskans in 2021. During the session, the Platte Institute weighed...
Do you ever wonder why Nebraska doesn’t seem to have its act together when it comes to taxes? Politicians want you to think it’s a red or blue problem. It’s not. It’s a lack of vision problem. That’s why I’m sharing the five essential steps to reform Nebraska taxes. Stay tuned until the end to...
Nebraska is no stranger to business incentives. Starting in 1985 (LB273), Nebraska embarked on a long journey of business incentives in an attempt to lure companies to the Cornhusker State as well as promote job creation. Over the last 35 years there have been many central programs in the state’s history including the Employment and...
Today, the Legislature passed Sen. Ben Hansen’s LB644 – often referred to as “the postcard bill” in the Legislature. When it’s signed into law, Nebraska will be the third state to adopt a comprehensive Truth in Taxation law, which requires direct notification of property taxpayers, by mail, about proposals for local property tax increases. As...