LB 484 presents opportunity to bring balance to K-12 finance, tax systems

LB 484 presents opportunity to bring balance to K-12 finance, tax systems

An Education Committee hearing will be held today on LB 484 – which provides an opportunity to re-evaluate Nebraska’s system of school finance in a comprehensive way.

The bill would serve a similar purpose to the School Finance Review Commission, which was created in the late 1980s to examine the state’s school funding system and our reliance on property taxes to fund K-12 education.

The commission paved the way for the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act – or TEEOSA – our current school finance system. TEEOSA initially made significant progress in balancing K-12 funding and reducing property taxes as a share of the economy. In the years since, however, several tweaks have been made to the TEEOSA formula, which combined with other factors including a surge in agricultural land values, have negated some of the progress we made in balancing our tax code and reducing reliance on property taxes to fund K-12 education.

The School Finance Review Commission helped Nebraska address imbalances in its school finance and tax system before and such a process can once again help our state find comprehensive solutions to complicated and yet vital issues.

The hearing on LB 484 starts at 1:30 p.m. in the State Capitol, Room 1524. NET Nebraska will stream the hearing live.