Pillen says he wants state, not property taxes, to fund Nebraska K-12 schools

Gov. Jim Pillen said during the Nebraska Broadcaster’s Association Governor’s Monthly Call In Show, that his tax plan has evolved through conversations at the town halls he's held throughout the state.

Pillen previously said his goal is to lower property taxes in Nebraska by 40% through a special legislative session.

On Monday, Pillen said he wants the state to take over funding for K-12 schools.

“Our goal of our plan is to not have property tax fund one iota of K-12 education — zero,” he said. “Our job is to educate our children. The state of Nebraska is supposed to, not property tax payers.”

Currently, around $3 billion in property taxes per year go toward funding Nebraska’s K-12 schools, according to the Nebraska Department of Revenue.

Pillen reiterated that he wants to reduce spending and broaden the state sales tax base by eliminating sales tax exemptions to pay for his proposal.

“It’s just really, really simple,” he said. “We do what all of our neighboring states do so that we can compete. We get a broad base sales tax.”

Pillen also advocated getting rid of unfunded mandates, which he said result in school districts raising property taxes.

“We have mandates within the state that do nothing but add cost to educating our kids and have no input on outcome,” he said.

The governor said he intends to call a special legislative session sometime between July 26 and Aug. 15.

When asked if he had a plan ready to present to legislators, Pillen said he still has lots of work to do to interact with state senators.

Later this month, Pillen will also be visiting Indonesia on a trade mission for 12 days.

“I want to make sure I have time when I get back to make sure we're ready to roll,” Pillen said.