Special Session Begins

By Gordon Hopkins Thursday, July 25, 2024, the Nebraska Legislature formally convened a special session. The day prior, Governor Jim Pillen issued a proclamation calling for a special session of the 108th Nebraska Legislature. The session will convene Thursday, July 25 at 10:00 a.m. Per a statement from the governor, “the scope will be limited to enacting legislation related to reducing state property taxes.”The first three days of the session will consist of bill introduction. Public hearings on legislation introduced are expected to begin Monday, July 29. AppropriationsAccording to the proclamation, potential legislative actions include various changes to appropriations approved by the Legislature last session:Reducing general fund appropriations and re-appropriations approved by the 108th Legislature;Lapsing cash fund balances and reallocate cash fund revenue and interest as approved by the 108th Legislature;Modifying fees and assessments to replace general fund appropriations as approved by the 108th Legislature;Creating cash and revolving funds and expanding eligible uses of specific funds to support general fund appropriation reductions approved by the 108th Legislature;Modifying cash fund, revolving fund, and federal fund appropriations to support general fund reductions approved by the 108th Legislature;Transferring funds to the General Fund and Education Future Fund;Transferring funds between cash funds to support specific general fund reductions approved by the 108th Legislature;Transferring funds from the cash reserve fund to cash funds to support specific general fund reductions approved by the 108th Legislature;Modifying cash fund appropriations approved by the 108th Legislature to support specific general fund reductions. Changes to TaxesThe proclamation also outlines other possible changes to Nebraska taxes, including:Modifying the state cigarette tax;Modifying state taxes on vaping products;Modifying the state tax on consumable spirit alcohol;Modifying the state tax on Keno gaming;Modifying the state tax on game of skill devices as defined in LB 685, as approved on April 15, 2024;Establishing sales or use taxes on services and items that are not currently taxed;Establishing an excise tax on consumable hemp, as defined in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018;Eliminating state sales tax exemptions;Eliminating the personal property tax liability on agricultural and machinery equipment;Reforming credits defined in the Property Tax Credit Act;Reforming credits defined in the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act;Amending Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-27,142 to allow for the redistribution of local option sales taxes;Establishing a property tax relief program, which may include modifying state educational aid or establishing tax credits, to reduce property tax revenue collected for schools and taking steps necessary to ensure any such program which requires a constitutional amendment be printed on the November 2024 ballot, or as soon as possible thereafter;Establishing revenue caps that limit the authority of City and County governments to collect property tax revenue; andAppropriating funds to the Legislative Council for the necessary expenses incurred by the Legislature due to the convening of the extraordinary session herein called. NACOOne of the major concerns of county officials is the proposal for a “hard cap” on the ability for local governments to raise tax revenue. Governor Pillen has recommended a cap of either zero or a cap based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower. The Nebraska Association of County Officials (NACO) opposes a hard cap. Jefferson County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock serves on the NACO Board. He told FJN, “So, our NACO staff in Lincoln, we've already told them, sorry, but you're probably not going to have a weekend. We need you to review these bills and provide recommendations to the NACO Board, all of whom are elected officials from across the state, for us to review the bills and then to take a position on the bills and to establish what our plan of action will be to address the bills.” SpendingThe governor has put much of the blame for high property taxes on government spending. When asked about cutting spending in Jefferson County, Schoenrock said, “I wish there was some place, you know, we could something out of the budget.” “In my estimation, and in my experience, if we were to make cuts, we would be cutting essential services or citizens,” said Schoenrock. “We can do that. We'll be faced with that when we go through the budget process, coming here very soon. And of course, we always invite our citizens to be part of that process, so that they can see the requests from the departments to our elected officials. And we go through a very meticulous, line-by-line review of those requests. And so, this county board, we try to make prudent and judicious decisions on what those essential services are, and we try to obtain those services in the most cost efficient manner.” Schoenrock added, “So, that's what we are faced with not only this year, but every year.”

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