Scott Voorhees of KFAB
Property Taxes Hikes, Not a Misnomer
I presume by now, some have shot an email to Scott Voorhees who hosts the late morning show on KFAB. He does a great job. In some ways he is more comical like Steven Crowder (https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/) instead of the more scholarly Ben Shapiro of Daily Wire (https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-ben-shapiro-show).
Out of a bit of haste, I shot him an email, because he has been waxing and waning about the value of Omaha. You can hear him refer to my email on his podcast at the 20 minute mark (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/669-vintage-voorhees-27091316/now-playing).
After hearing him, I realize I was kinda stuck. He probably would not care if I had added details but he also did not quite understand the frustration many families feel with Omaha. I suspect he is going to get some kickback. He wants to chalk it up to being old, but young new families are questioning where to raise a family and they are moving away from urban areas (https://eig.org/families-exodus/). This is a national trend. I also sense he really has a genuine heart for Omaha. God bless him.
Yes, the roads are bad because drivers don’t pay for the roads and they drive too fast. Really, drivers don’t pay much for the roads (https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-road-taxes-funding/).
But to my email, it is not just a singular transgender flag, it is the vast array of divisive flags. Marketing has made flags easy for all sorts of occasions, but few are unifying as the United States flag. Yet, when I see a Palestine flag on one street, a rainbow flag on another, a transgender flag on a third, I must ask, where is the unity in all of this? These flags not only foster division but cause young families to question the values their neighbors hold. These flags are the exact opposite of the Block Homes program which were meant to make children feel safe (https://omaha.com/news/local/history/article_c63ad5d4-ebfe-4c5a-98ff-1c3b07307d9c.html).
Next was the take on George Floyd riots. Voorhees tried to be dismissive of it but the gravity of the matter is clear. People do not want their roads cut off due to protest at 72nd and Dodge, one of the busiest intersections in the City. Many working people needed access to the roads to deliver products yet the protests caused a great deal of disruption.
But more disconcerting is Voorhees take on education. Yes, parental discipline has been lacking, but the test scores are so bad, people move out of the school districts. Again, this is why there is a national trend of families leaving urban areas.
Finally, Voorhees is flat out wrong on property taxes. I know because I have kept receipts for over 20 years. Yes, the property evaluations do not help but the taxing authorities never adjust the levies down enough. They, instead, go on a spending spree. If you want to get a hint why so many turned on Stothert, look to her budgets which increased spending. Ever since 2019, the City has increase it’s budget by over 10 million dollars (https://andrewlsullivan.substack.com/p/omaha-why-property-taxes).
Also Omaha Metro Transit has successfully nearly doubled their levy in less than ten years. From Perplexity.ai: Over the past 10 years, the Omaha Metro (Transit Authority of the City of Omaha) property tax levy has approximately doubled—from about $0.052 per $100 of assessed value in 2016 to $0.10 per $100 in 2025 (https://www.perplexity.ai/search/did-omaha-metro-area-transit-r-5_KFmmMpQGSGSvlBkzhAMA#3).
Omaha officials are in denial about all of this. They keep pushing big projects but the actual population within Omaha is shrinking (https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/nebraska/omaha).
Perhaps the reason I feel an anti-family vibe comes from the First United Methodist Church at 7020 Cass Street. Compassion is not a cardinal virtue. Wearing masks is cowardice. Kids with dyed hair is subject to judgement. Does inclusivity include pedophilia? If that sounds severe, some will question the pastor being female. Say what you will, but many will say: not my church.
I don't know how young families can even afford to live in Omaha -- unless of course, they're highly paid professionals on salary with a major company like the First National Bank.
The cost of living in Omaha is just that high, and service industry jobs especially are being farmed out to independent contractors or limited to temp hours in a bid to keep the costs down for employers. This is great for employers' bottom line, but bad for their ability to hire and retain quality employees.
The sad thing is that all of this would change dramatically if there wasn't so much bureaucratic interference in the job market thanks to the ObamaCare. Oh--and those seventeen "added value" taxes that it was really designed to impose on everyone.
Get rid of ObamaCare, put Omaha city council on a balanced budget diet and trim the fat, and the cost of living in Omaha would become far more affordable again for everyone.