LINCOLN- A state legislative committee began working to craft a proposal to reduce property taxes statewide by another $1 billion, as called for by Gov. Jim Pillen. The Revenue Committee didn’t vote out any bill on the issue, but its chair, State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, floated the idea of raising the state sales tax by 1-cent and using the $531 million generated to increase state aid to K-12 schools.

The Pillen administration has proposed several ideas to get to a 40% reduction in local property taxes, including the sales tax increase and the elimination of several sales tax exemptions on things like farm repair parts, candy and pop and legal/accounting bills, plus a harder “cap” on spending increases by schools and other local governments.

Once, during the executive session, Linehan told the committee that she didn’t see how they could come up with $1 billion in new revenue to shift the cost off property. That appeared to be a recognition of the opposition that has been mounted against a proposed $2-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes, a new tax on vaping products and new taxes on veterinary services for pets and storage unit rentals.

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