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Tax burden heavy
on Nebraska farms
By Michelle Starr
Staff writer
According to a UNL study,
Nebraska farmers carry one of the
highest property tax burdens in the
country.
The study, presented in Omaha to
members of the agriculture property tax
task force on Oct. 12, might bring about
new legislation for property tax alloca
tion, said Brandon G. Y. Raddatz, the
UNL senior agriculture major who
completed the study.
With the agricultural economy
declining, a higher amount of farmers’
income is going toward taxes than in
other states, Raddatz said.
The study, done under contract for
NU’s Public Policy Center, shows
Nebraska’s agricultural property taxes
per $100 for full market value were 63
percent higher than the average of 20
leading agricultural states and 71 per
cent higher than the regional average.
Bruce Johnson, UNL professor ot
agricultural economics and Raddatz’s
faculty adviser, said an income tax was
a wise tax because it was based on the
ability to pay.
Raddatz said the task force was try
ing to figure out what legislation could
be made to shift the tax burden.
He also said if Nebraska had the
$0.71 average, farmers would see a 6
percent increase in net farm income.
Cathy Lang, a property tax admin
istrator, said she thought that while the
issues presented in the study had been
on the minds of legislators in the past
year, the study was triggering interest
among legislators on the amount of
taxes farmers pay.
The* bulk of property taxes goes
toward education, making up about 50
percent,of the funds used for education.
The other half comes from state
financial aid, said Greg Ibich, assistant
director of the State Department of
Agriculture.
Ibich said farmers didn’t want to see
a decline in the quality or amount of
funding for education but wanted a
more equal share of the billing.
“I think the study speaks for itself.
It’s common knowledge we have an
overreliance on property tax to fund
services that we need and want,” said
Jeff Gaertig, legislative aid to Sen.
Roger Wehrbein, the chairman of the
Nebraska state appropriations commit
tee.
According to the three and a half
month study conducted this past sum
mer, only Wisconsin leads Nebraska in
the amount farmers pay on property
taxes.
Wisconsin has a special circuit
breaker clause making the amount of
property tax based on income, which
might make its number one standing
misleading.
Although the study shows
Nebraska’s high taxes, it also shows a
drop of 24 percent in state agriculture
property taxes per $100 of value
between 1994 and 1998. The region
saw a 22 percent drop in agriculture
property taxes during the same time.
The lowest agriculture property tax
in recent years also occurred in 1998.
The problem is that Nebraska’s
ranking didn’t change, Raddatz said.
“We’re stepping towards the right direc
tion, but that’s still not good enough.”
With the preliminary research com
pleted, the next step is to examine the
amount of taxes paid by surrounding
states, Raddatz said.
Information on surrounding states’
agricultural property tax problems and
solutions will be discussed at an
Agriculture Issues forum on Nov. 1 in
Kearney, planned by Gov. Mike
Johanns.
I Program speeds teacher certification
TEACHERS from page 1
selection will be based on the stu
dent’s background.
“We don’t want to worry about
whether you’ve had two courses in
English literature before 1800,”
Wilson said. “We’re more concerned
about breadth and quality.”
Admission to the program will be
based on previous course work as well
as grade point averages.
The first class will start officially
in June 2000. Some will be admitted
for January 2000. It will take them 16
17 months to get through the pro
gram.
Not many schools are aware of the
program yet, Wilson said, but when
they see the increased number of
graduates, they will be grateful.
“Anything done to increase the
quality of the teachers moving into
schools is going to be seen as posi
tive,” Wilson said.
Don Ferguson, superintendent of
the Benedict school district, said he
was skeptical of the program solving
the teacher shortage in Nebraska.
Ferguson said there were a couple
of openings he couldn’t fill before the
school year began this year.
Butthe length of time it takes to
get through school isn’t what is keep
mg people from entering the field, he
said.
Instead, low salaries and problems
in schools are keeping people away.
“Until we can solve those types of
things, we won’t be able to attract
more students to the field,” he said.
The phone calls Cotter has
received have been enough to prove
otherwise, he said.
He is also convinced the people
who apply will be dedicated to teach
ing.
“This is really a decision that is
going to change lives,” Cotter said.
“The commitment they are making
could lead to better teachers.”
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