LB289 Falls Short of Sustainable, Long-Term Property Tax Relief

May 7, 2019 by AFP

LINCOLN, NE – Americans for Prosperity-Nebraska (AFP-NE) today urged the legislature to oppose LB289 and support property tax reform that doesn’t include a tax shift or tax increases. LB289 would raise the state sales tax, eliminate sales tax exemptions, and significantly decrease the property tax credit fund.

Americans for Prosperity-Nebraska supports an economically efficient tax system that promotes economic growth and has two important features: (1) low rates and (2) a broad tax base with few exemptions or deductions.

“LB 289 falls short of providing long-term, sustainable property tax relief. Without controlling spending, we will be back to the position we are in now,” said AFP-NE State Director, Jessica Shelburn. “We do not have the money to pay for this in the bill’s current form, and if we can’t pay for it now, what other taxes will we have to increase down the road? The legislature should get to the root of our property tax issue and introduce a bill that caps local spending, providing real property tax relief without increasing other taxes.”

Background:

AFP-NE to Committees: A Tax Shift is Not Tax Relief, 4/25/19

Controlling Spending is Key to Real Property Tax Relief, 5/7/19

Read Jessica Shelburn’s op-ed on property tax reform here.

The sales tax increase would hit low-income communities the hardest, as they already spend a disproportionate amount of their income on sales taxes.

With neighbors like Colorado, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wyoming already having lower state sales taxes than Nebraska, this proposed increase would make it even more likely that Nebraskans will choose to do their shopping out of state whenever possible, hurting local businesses.