40%
Leaders at Southeast Community College are planning to hike the district’s property tax levy to the maximum in next year’s budget, potentially increasing what some taxpayers will pay in support of SCC by 40%. The tax hike is the result of state leaders this year voting to take over funding of community colleges and negating the districts’ taxing authority beginning in 2024-25. Leaders at SCC say raising the tax levy now is necessary to ensure greater state aid in the future. Taxpayers can file for an income tax credit on property taxes paid to community colleges when submitting their return.
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Information from Department of Revenue on claiming tax credits
10.8 million
As lawmakers negotiate the farm bill, local food banks will be closely tracking funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP. Since the federal pandemic response in FY 2021, the Food Bank of the Heartland and Food Bank of Lincoln say they have received 10.8 million fewer pounds of food through the USDA program, making it harder to help the 1 in 10 people in Nebraska facing food insecurity. Every five years, Congress reauthorizes the farm bill, which outlines support for agriculture, including direct subsidies to farmers, food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, conservation programs and more.
The Legislature this year set aside $10 million in funding from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, for grants to food banks in providing emergency food assistance in Nebraska.
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$1,134
In February, the month that the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, $194 million was wagered on sports in Kansas. But because companies that take bets on sports in Kansas are allowed to deduct what they spend on promotions, state tax revenue from sports betting in February added up to just $1,134, a rate of 0.00058%. Meanwhile, the sportsbooks sent $468,699 to the federal government for the same February wagers.
The first legal sports bets in Nebraska were accepted on Thursday. Casinos in Nebraska pay a 20% state tax on their gambling revenues, including sports betting, but with a limited exemption for promotional gaming credits.
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83,000
Social Security benefits lift more people above the poverty line than any other program, including an estimated 83,000 Nebraskans aged 65 and over. Without Social Security, 21.7 million more adults and children nationwide would be below the poverty line. Social Security is a particularly essential source of income for older women and people of color, who have fewer other retirement resources.
This year, the Nebraska Legislature fully phased out the collection of state income taxes on Social Security benefits as part of LB 754. The move primarily helps wealthy Social Security recipients as low-income seniors were already exempted from paying state taxes on benefits.
More from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
$120 million
Lawmakers in Vermont, citing the need for investment in improving affordability for families and increased pay for workers, voted to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of legislation to boost child care funding by $120 million. The investment, which includes extending child care subsidies to families up to 575% of the federal poverty level, will be partially funded by a new 0.44% payroll tax.