Lies of Tax Credits

More Flaws in Property Taxes

Update: I apologize for the terseness of this post and if anyone was offended, but very frustrating to see supposed solutions be obstructed.

By now, many Nebraskans, but not all, are doing their income taxes and trying to figure out what tax credits they can get. Nebraska has such a process for a property tax credit and helps taxpayers at https://revenue.nebraska.gov/about/nebraska-property-tax-credits

For some reason, the numbers from the State did not match my tax forms. After back and forth in communications with the State, I received this response: “The tax amounts that you see on the tax statement vs the amounts on the website are not going to match. This is because there is a tax credit percentage cap of 1.05 percent, meaning this is the maximum tax credit.” In other words, the Westside school tax exceeds what I can receive for a tax credit as the tax levy is at 1.11. In other words, there is a cap on my tax credit!

This is why I have no faith in tax reform and I wish my conservative friends would come to recognize the problem. Doug Kagan of the Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom is an energizer bunny in addressing government spending. Walt Peffer, the Republican Douglas County Assessor, pushes for reform. Governor Jim Pillen also wants reform. Bryan Slone of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce understands economics but objects to the EPIC Option consumption tax. Sorry Gentleman, we are not on the same page as to the problem and I do not want to be part of a battle which is merely philosophical in result.

This denial of the problem is systemic. A landlord has a hundred apartments but has blocked the rental of 3 apartments in need of an update. Because of high property taxes, they are denied the funds they need to update and therefore delay fixing and renting such apartments as they cannot bring such apartments up to code. At the same time, Omaha gives generous TIF exemptions to developers. Omaha has yet to do an economic study of the impact of City policies which contribute to homelessness and revenue shortage. I confronted a City Council member on this and they merely deferred to Governor Pillen’s tax plan which does not address the problems as I mentioned.

From the internet, “Nebraska began levying a state property tax in its first year of statehood, 1867, and continued to levy the state tax until 1966, when Nebraska voters adopted a constitutional amendment, abolishing the use of property tax for state purposes” (https://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/reports/research/propertytax2020.pdf). The revolution of 1966 did not go far enough as the current tax system is seriously flawed.

Hal Daub, a former Congressman and former Mayor of Omaha, supports the EPIC Option. Daub knows how perverted the taxation system is and he knows the power of lobbyists and ultimately how funding is controlled. Rob Rohbough had been part of the Fair Tax groups pushed forward by Steve Forbes. I was skeptical of any Federal plan but on the state level, there is much merit in changing taxation to a consumption-based tax as he advocated.

Tax reform must abolish property evaluations and mill levies. Any tax reform which fails to end property evaluations and tax levies amounts to a lie and I refuse to get on the hamster wheel of such short-sighted reforms anymore. Being a mere naysayer to the EPIC Option carries no weight with me. Come up with a different proposal.

I would love to explain these problems to the Douglas County Commissioners and the Omaha City Council but they no longer allow for public comment on non-agenda items, and I know the current elected officials well enough to doubt they would put me on the agenda to address these problems.

In addition, the Omaha World-Herald will pay me no heed nor will the Lincoln Journal Star. The Nebraska Examiner, Free Flatwater Press, and KFAB radio will not take notice of what I say here. They are indifferent to what my over 300 subscribers think.