Gov. Pete Ricketts' income and property tax package is drawing praise from Nebraska's business community, but leading farm groups say it doesn't do enough to address their concerns about rising property taxes.
Farm groups say they support the governor's proposal to change how agricultural land is valued, but they're disappointed the package doesn't offer more to landowners.
Business groups note that state government can only directly control sales and income tax rates. Local governments impose property taxes.
The property tax plan would switch from a system that relies on sale prices to one that focuses on how much income a parcel could potentially earn. If it were in place this year, the bill would have reduced the combined taxable value of Nebraska's agricultural land by 2 percent.
