LINCOLN - "Affordability is on nearly everyone’s mind. With homeowners and prospective homeowners looking for every way they can to save on the necessities of life, it is only natural to consider that expense that is itself a perennial topic in Nebraska: how to reduce the property tax burden. But lowering property taxes is not easy, and the simplest-sounding solutions come with hard compromises for our communities. When property tax revenue declines, so does the funding available for the local services and investments that shape our daily lives.

In Nebraska last year, $5.6 billion of property taxes was levied in Nebraska:

$3.3 billion was levied in support of local school districts, including bonded indebtedness.
$975 million was levied for counties.
$653 million was levied for cities.
The remainder was levied by townships, fire districts, natural resource districts, educational service units, community colleges and miscellaneous districts like libraries and ag societies.

While the state of Nebraska partially offset those levies with over $1 billion of relief (through mechanisms like the property tax credits and the homestead exemption), that is still a lot of money for a state of just over 2 million people..."

Jon Cannon is executive director of the Nebraska Association of County Officials and previously served as the organization’s deputy director. Before then, he worked as an attorney in the Property Assessment Division of the Nebraska Department of Revenue, where he was counsel to the property tax administrator.

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