Pillen vs Obstructionists

Making Property Taxes Hurt

People do not like change. There are always naysayers. But with every effort to reform or abolish property taxes, all sorts of people come out to defend the property tax system using idiotic arguments and proving their ignorance. Nebraska Governor Pillen has stirred numerous hornet nests of idiots in trying to move Nebraska off the property tax system and he is worthy of admiration in doing so.

My response to critics and cynics is simple. Abolish the property tax system and only afterwards can we talk about the problems which are likely to occur. If we had absolutely no taxes whatsoever, would you seriously advocate for the current property tax system or something else? Something tells me you would lack the wicked imagination to do so.

I attended the Omaha listening session put on by some state senators and I heard the same all-cliched arguments of how sales taxes are “regressive” or how it would lead to “border bleed” or “tax shift”. If you hear such terms, you should know you are dealing with someone who is ignorant of the digital economy.

Bryan Slone of the Nebraska Chambers of Commerce and State Senator Julia Slama have attacked virtually every effort to reform or abolish the property tax system. Such people do not understand the damage property taxes do and at the same time, they fail to understand why a digital economy is incompatible with property taxes. These types of people bring no ideas to the discussion table and should be ignored.

One perception of Nebraska’s sales tax proves people have no idea how many holes are in it. They view the sales tax like a solid bucket, capable of collecting much revenue. Yet, the exemptions are so great, particularly in a digital service economy, the so-called sales tax is a colander and lets tons of revenue to escape. The exemptions are what make the sales tax regressive, not the sales tax itself. Yet, a consumption tax is the opposite of regressive as used goods are not taxed.

Mayor Jean Stothert has done amazing things for Omaha, but she has done very little on the taxation front. Many think the next mayoral election will pivot on the streetcar. I doubt it. I am agnostic on the streetcar, but the advocates of the project are inept and incompetent in explaining the problem of urban congestion and how a streetcar alleviates it. There are very valid arguments for as streetcar system and how to fund it but the proponents are way off target in explanation.

Yet, Stothert’s real problem is the City government keeps expanding, and property tax revenues keep on increasing, in spite of a miniscual lowering of the tax levy. Stothert has acquiesced to progressives' demands instead of taking the occasion to confront them. Why will she not put a cap on revenue on property taxes? This will be a campaign issue.

Omaha's restaurant tax proves consumption taxes work. Yes, the fact it actually charges a tax on another tax is a stupid idea, but this tax has proven to be a functional tax as people have the ability to pay it.

There are elites out there who just want to dismiss the anti-property tax arguments as mere populism but their arrogance is obvious to spot. Why, when I pay property taxes, I do not receive a simple "thank you" note for supporting our community? Why, when I pay income taxes, I do not receive a simple letter or notice of "thank you for supporting our state" or "thank you for supporting our country?" Perhaps it has to do with the fact when I shop at the grocery store, the same expected " thank you" is missing. The idea of gratitude has been lost, not just to the private sector but to the general public, and people need to fight for it, as well as the idiotic property taxes.