GRAND ISLAND - The momentum for property tax relief still has a chance at funding, despite estimates announced last week that Nebraska will see a quarter-billion-dollar loss in state tax revenue from federal tax changes enacted because of the coronavirus.

The state can avert this loss of revenue by “decoupling.” Decoupling means protecting the relevant parts of Nebraska’s tax code from the changes in the federal tax code, in most cases by remaining linked to federal law as it existed prior to the change. The Nebraska Legislature has in the past voted to decouple, or not follow, federal tax changes. Most recently, that happened following the last recession, when lawmakers moved to decouple to avoid state tax increases on Nebraskans.

When the Nebraska legislative session was suspended in March, a property tax relief proposal still lacked the 33 votes needed for passage. Despite the estimated loss of state revenue, a property tax relief measure can still be passed. With roughly $10 billion in federal stimulus spending coming into the state, there is some money left for property tax relief. The problem is the unknown speed of how the recovery will take place and how quickly unemployment claims will get back to pre-COVID levels and we open up for business.

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