LINCOLN- Governor of Nebraska Jim Pillen will end the month of June by continuing his tour of town halls focused on property tax reform in the western and central parts of the state. Pillen is ending June with nine more events planned, including one in his hometown, Columbus. At the end of the week, the total number of town halls held by Pillen will amount to 26.

The main focal point of Pillen's gubernatorial tenure has been eliminating about 40%, or $2 billion, in locally collected property taxes by the end of his first two years in office, even previewing an offer to take on all or more of the costs for the state's 244 school districts. The Nebraska Department of Revenue reports indicate that for the last school year, property taxes amounted to $2.8 billion, excluding bond taxes. Some of Pillen's reform ideas include getting rid of certain sales tax exemptions and the creation of a two-tiered sales and use tax rate per dollar for particular goods.

Increasing "sin taxes" is also a target of Pillen's, meaning an uptick in sales tax for alcohol, tobacco, and vape products. A definitive plan has not yet been put in place by the governor, or the state senators he's been working with. Pillen recently announced potential dates for the special session that he's been planning on calling. The rest of this week's town hall schedule can be found below.

Wednesday, June 26

1:30 p.m. at Columbus Chamber of Commerce, 753 33rd Ave., Columbus.

Thursday, June 27

10 a.m. at Mid-Plains Community College, 715 East Highway 20, Valentine.
1 p.m. at Chadron State College, Student Center – Lakota Room, 1000 Main St., Chadron.
4:30 p.m. at Westside Events Center, 2472 County Road 62, Alliance.

Friday, June 28

8:30 a.m. at Petrified Wood Gallery, 418 East 1st St., Ogallala.
1 p.m. at Coppermill Steakhouse, 202 Coppermill St., McCook.
4 p.m. at Central Community College – The Opportunity Center, 1501 Plum Creek Parkway, Lexington.

For the full article click HERE