LINCOLN - Gov. Jim Pillen signaled Wednesday he will once again propose the state take over paying to run schools in Nebraska in an effort to reduce property taxes.

Pillen discussed the school funding takeover in an interview with Nebraska Public Media News about his priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Pillen said local school districts would still use property taxes to pay for the cost of buildings, but under his plan, “We, the state, pay for educating the children. Pay for the operations. That would take a little over a billion dollars, maybe $1.2 billion.”

Pillen said he would get the money by broadening the sales tax base, and by using those funds to offset property taxes, the net result would be a tax decrease. He said his team was still working on what changes to the sales tax he would propose. He added the sales tax currently brings in about $2.3 billion per year, but if all exemptions were removed, it would bring in $7 billion.

For the full article, click HERE.