LINCOLN — Federal tax changes could put major property tax relief even further out of reach and worsen Nebraska’s fiscal woes this year. A recent Nebraska Department of Revenue analysis estimated that the federal changes would cut state tax revenues by $250 million over three years. The reduction would be on top of the revenue losses expected because of the coronavirus.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who chairs the Legislature’s Revenue Committee, said the tax changes will create additional challenges for Nebraska lawmakers when they reconvene in July to finish putting together a state budget and addressing tax policy questions.

“There’s many, many unknowns,” she said. “We need to look at each one of those and see how it fits in the whole puzzle.”As part of that examination, Linehan said the state should consider whether to allow the federal tax changes to automatically affect state tax liability. But Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, argued against undoing the state effects of the federal tax changes, saying that would be contrary to the economy-boosting intent of the federal legislation

The Revenue Department analysis shows that changes to corporate income taxes account for the bulk of the revenue losses, an estimated $230 million in the three fiscal years ending June 30, 2023. The changes affect limits on charitable contribution deductions, handling of business losses and deductions of business interest, among other things.

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