Lincoln Journal Star on January 30: Ag land valuation cap not the solution
This op-ed appeared in multiple sources.
Agricultural land owners in Nebraska have seen spikes in agricultural land values, causing property taxes to surge in recent years. As a result, our research shows rural Nebraskans now pay up to 40 percent more per person in combined property and income taxes than their urban counterparts.
A bill before the Legislature, LB 958, attempts to address this issue by capping statewide agricultural land assessment growth to 3 percent, thereby preventing future spikes for agricultural property owners.
This approach, however, does not address Nebraska’s heavy reliance on property taxes and low level of state support for our schools, counties, cities and community colleges. Furthermore, the measure would have unintended consequences similar to those created by other recent proposals to tax agricultural land at a lower rate.
First, the cap would create large shortfalls for schools and other local governments. If the assessment cap had been in effect this year, it would have created a $212 million shortfall for schools and other localities, including a $144 million shortfall for K-12 schools alone. The shortfalls would have had to be addressed by cuts to schools and other local services or through levy increases – which would have wiped out much of the tax reduction from the assessment cap.