The idea of raising sales taxes in order to lower property taxes got a less-than-rousing reception in a hearing before the Legislature’s Revenue Committee Wednesday.
Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, chair of the Revenue Committee, introduced the bill to raise the state sales tax rate from 5.5 to 6.5 percent. Linehan said the idea is just part of Gov. Jim Pillen’s attempt to lower property taxes by 40 percent – an idea that also includes expanding the sales tax to cover more goods and services. And she denied that raising sales taxes would unduly burden lower-income Nebraskans.