Gov. Pete Ricketts
Gov. Pete Ricketts is trying to calm Nebraska agricultural leaders’ fears about what type of tax relief package might come out of this legislative session.
The Nebraska Agriculture Leaders Working Group says a Revenue Committee proposal to take money from the property tax credit fund and use it to fund income tax cuts is “the exact opposite” of what the group wants to see done. They want to the legislature to focus on property tax relief.
But Ricketts says a cut to the state income tax is a key to tax cut legislation moved forward.
“We’re looking to bring together both property tax and income tax together so we can build that coalition of both urban and rural senators, because, quite frankly, we don’t have enough rural senators by ourselves to be able to pass property tax relief,” Ricketts tells Brownfield Ag News. “We really have to find that combination of both income and property tax relief to be able to get both.”
Members of the Revenue Committee are considering combining a number of tax-cut bills into one to bring to the floor for debate.
Ricketts says it is likely it will take a combination approach to get tax relief this year.
“It is a process and we’ll have to wait and see how it comes out of the Revenue Committee and we’re going to continue to work with Sen. Jim Smith, who is the chair of that committee, as well as the other members to come up with a package that can get through three rounds of voting and to my desk for signature,” according to Ricketts.
Ricketts wants a cut to the top income tax rate. He also is pushing for a change in how agricultural land is assessed for property tax purposes, shifting from a market-based formula to one based on income potential.
Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News, contributed to this story.