LINCOLN- During a Monday morning press conference, Gov. Jim Pillen laid out an ambitious goal of reducing local property taxes by 40% while revealing almost nothing about how the state would go about such an endeavor. Just a week after floating the idea of raising the state's sales tax, Pillen called the press conference to discuss the "growth and impacts of skyrocketing property taxes."

Overall, Pillen expressed that he wanted to shift $2 billion worth of taxes away from the much-criticized property taxes via some combination of a tougher lid on local spending or broadening the sales tax base. However, when asked for specific details, Pillen said he plan to work with lawmakers to come up with a proposal. "I'm committed, I'm all in," said Pillen of this endeavor, "We're not going to stop until we get to 40%."

An increase in the state sales tax would make Nebraska the highest in the nation, so Pillen emphasized placing a stronger cap on K-12 schools, cities, and counties to reach his goals. However, Pillen made it clear that, not matter which route the state took, the sales tax exemption on groceries in Nebraska would remain in place. Pillen also floated the idea of increasing the cigarette tax to $2-per-pack.

A poll paid for by Americans for Prosperity-Nebraska, a conservative polling organization, found that roughly 70% of Nebraskans oppose the proposed sales tax change, with more than half telling pollsters that they would prefer a hard cap on local spending to offset property taxes. Pillen spokeswoman Laura Strimple criticized the poll as flawed, saying it was "leading and not fully representative of Nebraskans' views on property tax relief."

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