Omaha World Herald on July 29: Midlands Voices: State, local finances closely linked
The writer, of Omaha, is executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute in Lincoln.
State tax policy doesn’t operate in a bubble. Fiscal and tax decisions made at state levels have direct budget ramifications for local governments like cities, counties and school districts.
This has been illustrated recently by budget crunches in Omaha and La Vista.
Both cities recently announced that they were hit hard by more expensive-than-anticipated business tax breaks that local companies get as part of subsidies the Nebraska Legislature approved decades ago.