The Tax Equalization and Review Commission denied a petition by Sarpy County to raise Douglas County property valuations.
Currently property valuations in Sarpy County sit at 96-percent compared to 93-percent in Douglas County.
Sarpy County Commissioner Don Kelly said residents in Douglas County need to pay their fair share, "If taxes aren’t equalized and our assessment methods are not the same, somebody is going to pay a disproportionate amount of tax and in this case it’s Sarpy county."
During a hearing Friday morning, an attorney for Douglas County said this was unprecedented and according to state law, counties are just allowed to change their valuations and not other counties.
However an attorney with Sarpy County argued because of the shared common levies, the commissioners should take a 'liberal construction' on the law.
The TERC board said it wasn't in their jurisdiction to take up the case.
Kelly now hopes changes can happen at the state level to fix the tax equalization process.
