LINCOLN- Former congressman and Husker football coach Tom Osborne, Gov. Pete Ricketts, former Gov. Kay Orr and some state lawmakers are launching an opposition campaign to the recent successful ballot initiative that will be in front of voters this November to legalize casino gambling at horse tracks. Most are veterans of past battles against expanded gambling proposals. They played a key role in defeating proposals in 2004 and 2006. This time, their effort has been endorsed by former Govs. Bob Kerrey and Dave Heineman. Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub also showed up at the Monday event.

As before, Osborne said, the opponents are outmatched financially. They are turning to networks of religious, business and other groups to get out their message.

“The only thing we can rely on is the intelligence and perspective of individual Nebraskans to educate themselves,” Osborne said.

He said the promised property tax relief would amount to a relatively small amount of money, which would be outweighed by increased social costs .Based on current property tax valuations, casino taxes would boost tax credits for residential and commercial property by $16.91 on every $100,000 worth of valuation. For agricultural land, the taxes would boost credits by $20.29 on every $100,000 of valuation

Read the full article HERE