Sorry, taxpayers. Unfunded, underfunded mandates and fully funding our schools to bring you real property tax relief that is sustainable will not come to your ballots this year. Nebraska has had interim hearings, bills that never got out of committee, reports generated all saying that the one cause of high property taxes that is within our control is the use of these mandates. LR263CA would have created an opportunity to review our existing programs to help us make sound financial decisions on the cost-benefit ratio of existing programs and will help those who come after us to create well thought out and necessary policies with the complete financial backing of the Legislature. So instead of constantly trying to refund back your tax dollars that we take from you, we would never take them in the first place. Pretty easy.
Historically, this has been on our radar for decades. In 1996 the Legislature passed LB299 which created the Task Force on Unfunded Mandates who at that time identified and reviewed all programs and services enacted by the Legislature which resulted or may result in an increase in expenditures of funds by the political subdivisions assigned to perform or provide the programs and services. In 1994, Governor Ben Nelson created the Nebraska Mandate Initiative to help small municipal governments better cope with mandates. There was also a Governor’s Summit on Education Mandates in 1995. Senators Fischer, Mello, Crawford, Wayne and others have all attempted in some fashion to change this. If we are unwilling to address unfunded mandates or curb the state’s use of them moving forward, we face leaving political subdivisions with even fewer funds available to address the costs we force them to incur. It’s time we take a look at these issues and start breaking down what is necessary and what has value. If these programs have value, then the state should reconsider how they fund the programs and quit kicking this can down the road.
Original source can be found here.
