{"id":38158,"date":"2025-03-20T11:07:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T17:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=38158"},"modified":"2025-03-21T12:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T18:23:28","slug":"proposal-to-pare-back-tax-credits-exemptions-considered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=38158","title":{"rendered":"Proposal to pare back tax credits, exemptions considered"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Revenue Committee heard testimony March 19 on a proposal to eliminate an array of tax incentives to help address the state\u2019s projected revenue shortfall.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. R. Brad von Gillern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elkhorn Sen. R. Brad von Gillern, who introduced LB650 at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, said the measure would cut or scale back recently enacted \u201cdiscretionary\u201d programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile that\u2019s frustrating to many, including me, it\u2019s an unfortunate reality of our responsibilities to manage taxpayer dollars to the best of our abilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tax credits related to biodiesel sales, food donations, livestock modernization or expansion projects, reverse osmosis systems, shortline railroad maintenance expenditures and renewable chemical production are among those that would be cut or scaled back.<\/p>\n

LB650 also would:
\n\u2022 end a sales tax exemption related to the lease of towers used to provide internet access services, agricultural GPS locating services or over-the-air radio and television broadcasting;
\n\u2022 repeal a buyer-based sales tax exemption for purchasing agents;
\n\u2022 end a credit for employers to offset relocation expenses for qualifying employees as well as a one-time income tax exclusion for employees who relocate to Nebraska;
\n\u2022 end applications for state turnback assistance for sports complexes and large public stadiums;
\n\u2022 decrease the amount that retailers are allowed to deduct for collecting and remitting sales tax;
\n\u2022 end an income tax credit for contributions to certain community betterment organizations; and
\n\u2022 end applications for incentives under the Urban Redevelopment Act.<\/p>\n

The state Department of Revenue estimates that the bill as introduced would increase state general fund revenue by $18.8 million in fiscal year 2025-26, $70.2 million in FY2026-27 and $77.9 million in FY2027-28.<\/p>\n

Von Gillern brought an amendment to the hearing to retain some of the programs the original bill would have eliminated, including a sales tax exemption for net wrap and twine used in commercial agriculture as well as tax credits related to sustainable aviation fuel, movie production and pregnancy help organizations.<\/p>\n

As introduced, LB650 also would modify income tax provisions related to nonresident workers and end applications to create \u201cgood life districts\u201d under the Good Life Transformational Projects Act. The amendment would strike those changes.<\/p>\n

Bruce Rieker of Nebraska Farm Bureau testified in support of the bill. He said Nebraska farmers are willing to forgo certain tax incentives that benefit agriculture for now if that means lawmakers can provide \u201csignificant\u201d property tax relief this session along with a balanced budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all support those [programs], and \u2026 we believe that they\u2019re important to economic development,\u201d Rieker said. \u201cBut we also believe that the greatest return on investment for economic development is to get our property taxes under control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Testifying in opposition to LB650 was Lucas Froeschl, who spoke on behalf of the Nebraska Economic Developers Association. He said the bill as introduced could jeopardize possible investments from companies seeking to produce sustainable aviation fuel and ethanol-based plastic components from Nebraska corn and soybeans.<\/p>\n

\u201cNebraska is leading the way for the bioeconomy initiative,\u201d Froeschl said, \u201cand a reduction in these incentives could stall the momentum our efforts have created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Timm testified in opposition to the measure on behalf of the Nebraska Broadcasters Association. By eliminating a tax exemption on the lease of towers and certain equipment used in broadcasting, he said, LB650 could hinder local TV and radio stations\u2019 ability to serve the public, particularly during emergencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when our industry is already facing financial challenges, taxing tower leases could lead to job cuts,\u201d Timm said, \u201cwhich could lead to reduced local news and weather coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick Mulhall testified in opposition to LB650 on behalf of Wicklow Companies and the Mulhall family, which operates an Omaha garden center. He said a 2021 measure authorizing the use of turnback tax assistance for sports complexes allowed Omaha to launch an expansion project at Tranquility Park.<\/p>\n

The family invested a significant sum to cover infrastructure costs for an associated development that will include new restaurants, hotels, retailers and residences, Mulhall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the turnback tax is repealed,\u201d he said, \u201cthe park expansion project will end \u2014 as will our development \u2014 and we will have spent $5 million that should not have been spent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in opposition was Jennifer Creager, who spoke on behalf of the state, Lincoln and Omaha chambers of commerce. Although the amendment would address many of their concerns with the original proposal, she said, businesses would prefer that lawmakers use a more strategic approach when evaluating whether a particular tax incentive program should be cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would just ask that those decisions also be made with a larger goal or vision in mind rather than just cherry-picking programs when money is tight,\u201d Creager said.<\/p>\n

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Revenue Committee heard testimony March 19 on a proposal to eliminate an array of tax incentives to help address the state\u2019s projected revenue shortfall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[288],"class_list":["post-38158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-revenue","tag-sen-r-brad-von-gillern"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/vonGillern3-19-25a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38158"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38197,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38158\/revisions\/38197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}