Governor's news conference on Education reform, property tax relief
BEATRICE, Neb. -- Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen introduced a multi-part education initiative today designed to boost the state’s investment in schools. It involves increasing state aid, reducing property taxes, and capping spending by school districts.
"All of us in Nebraska agree on two really simple things...that we never, ever quit on our kids and our kids are our future....and we all agree that property taxes have gotten so out of whack in Nebraska, that you don't even need to own property to be affected."
Pillen was joined by State Senators Rita Sanders, Robert Clements and Tom Briese in introducing elements of the package, which include a $113 million education foundation aid commitment and $157 million in funding for special education.
The package of bills will be included in the Governor’s budget to be presented to lawmakers next week. Pillen said there will be necessary controls on spending.
Senator Robert Clements says the package includes something called the Education Future Fund….an investment of one-billion dollars for 2024….and $250 million for each of the following years, over a six-year period. It represents a $2.5 billion investment in education.
"It will increase K-12 special education funding to 80 percent of expense. It will add fifteen hundred dollars per student allocation within the current TEOSSA formula. And the increased state aid to K-12 schools is designed to deliver dollar-for-dollar property tax relief."
Senator Tom Briese said he’s optimistic about achieving significant education funding reform and property tax relief, at the same time.
"Nebraska ranks nearly last in the country in the percentage of K-12 education funded by the state. That has to change, especially in rural areas, where we're roughly last in the country and that’s considering all schools in Nebraska. When you consider the rural schools in Nebraska, most of them who don't get equalization aid, that's fairly pathetic. And, it has to change. This package can chip away at that dynamic, and help to reduce property taxes.
The plan would include a property tax request cap on schools, based on total revenue….of a three-percent increase. Briese said districts would be able to override the cap by a super majority vote of a district board or super majority vote of the public.
Governor Pillen said the cap is meant to protect taxpayers. Of the special education funding, Pillen said it’s unacceptable that there is inadequate support for that.
OpenSky Policy Institute Executive Director Dr. Rebecca Firestone stated quote, “We appreciate the governor’s interest in increasing state aid to public education and investing more in our state’s children. We have long noted that the best way to address property taxes in Nebraska is to increase the share of state support for public K-12 education.”
Firestone said the institute looks forward to modeling the components of the plan to better understand its long-term sustainability as well as what impact the proposed revenue cap would have on public schools and the students they educate.