LINCOLN, Neb (KMTV) — On Monday Governor Pillen met with reporters in the Warner Chamber of the Capitol to unveil his plan to tackle property taxes.
But it seems even the Governor still doesn’t know how he will get that done.
“Whatever the plan is to get there, im 100% behind. But we have to be able to get there,” said Pillen.
Pillen’s stated goal is a 40% reduction in property taxes, a goal that will require a significant shift in Nebraska’s tax burden.
One of his targets are tax exemptions and Pillen said everything, except for groceries, is on the table.
That means you could pay higher prices for currently exempt medical items like feminine hygiene products, insulin and medical devices.
Prices could go up at the gas pump as Nebraska also has exemptions for purchases of motor vehicle fuel and you could even have to pay more if your vehicle breaks down.
“Car repairs are a substantial expense for them. If you don’t have access to your car or cant afford to repair their cars because a sales tax is making it more expensive then that is an example of a sales tax that would end up being felt more by lower and middle income Nebraskans,” said Rebecca Firestone, executive director of OpenSky Policy Institute.
Firestone emphasized that without details on what exemptions Pillen would target its impossible to know the true impact his plan could have on Nebraskans.
Another hint that Pillen has given about his plans, first reported by the Nebraska Examiner, is hiking the sales tax.
His proposal, jump from 5.5% to 7.5%.
“If we were to go from 5.5% up to 7.5% that would certainly make us higher than any of our neighboring states. It would actually make Nebraska I believe above California in terms of the highest sales tax rate,” said Firestone.
A similar strategy of shifting burdens to sales tax has been proposed by fellow conservative and state Senator Steve Erdman with his EPIC consumption tax proposal.
EPIC would eliminate property, income, and corporate taxes in favor of a flat consumption tax.
But Erdman says his plan, which offers exemptions for used items, including vehicles and homes, offers more protections for low-income Nebraskans.
“Under the EPIC we won’t tax any used items and low income or fixed income people by used items. His proposal will be regressive mores than anything we have proposed with EPIC,” said Erdman.
