OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — In early January, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen announced a goal to reduce property taxes by 40%. Debate about how has followed. 3 News Now's Mary Nelson sat down with Nebraska Treasurer, and former state lawmaker, Tom Briese about the problem - and what he sees as the solution.
- "Unfortunately, we rely far too heavily in Nebraska on property taxes to fund local government."
- Briese believes property taxes are taking a toll on economic growth, saying Nebraska's reliance is unreasonable and unsustainable.
- His message to state senators: "I would encourage all my former colleagues to get with the Governor on this and get Nebraskans the relief and reform that they need."
Want to read more? Here's the on-air copy for the story.
A corn and soybean farmer. A law school grad. A state senator. State treasurer. Dad. Granddad. And, Boone County property owner. That's all the same person, and it all shapes Tom Briese's point of view. He talked extensively with Mary Nelson about property taxes.
Mary: What would you like to see? What does a healty picture look like?
Treasurer Briese: Well, I spent seven years in the Legislature and my focus every year of those seven years was on propoerty tax relief and reform. And we had several successes in there. We had LB 1107, we had, I believe, it was LB 873, we had LB 243, and so we did make some progress... but there is much work to be done. Unfortunately, we rely far too heavily in Nebraska on property taxes to fund local government.
Mary: And when you say local government, it's mostly school districts?
Treasurer Briese: Yes, predominantly. Roughly on average 60% of property taxes are for school systems, supporting school systems, school districts.
Briese described property taxes as taking a toll on economic growth, saying Nebraska's reliance is unreasonable and unsustainable.
Treasurer Briese: What the Governor and Senator Linehan and the Revenue Committee are trying to do is to inject more fairness into that tax structure.
He would like to see more of a third-a third-a third approach, where property, income and sales taxes are close to equal in reliance. It's proposed in Lincoln to change Nebraska's sales tax from 5.5% to 6.5%.
Treasurer Briese: You know, you have some of the naysayers complaining, suggesting it's a tax increase. That's bologna. It's not a tax increase. It's revenue-neutral, textbook tax reform... Every politician in the state wants to talk about property tax relief and the need for it, but what are you willing to do?
Mary: What's the cost to Nebraska overall if property taxes aren't addressed?
Treasurer Briese: You go try to hire somebody from out of state? We have a workforce crisis in our state. So we try to bring in folks to our state and when they start looking around at housing and they see that maybe 30 to 40% of their house payment can be property taxes, well, you've got a little bit of an uphill climb trying to recruit them to Nebraska... It's decision time in the Legislature and I would encourage all my former colleagues to get with the Governor on this and get Nebraskans the relief and reform that they need.
Briese was appointed by Governor Pillen, and has been in his current role for about three-and-a-half years. When asked if he plans to run for the office in 2026, he confirmed that he does.
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