2017 Legislative session dawns for Nebraska

On the cusp of the 2017 Nebraska legislative session, Senator-elect Steve Erdman of the 47th District has taxes on the brain, and he is not alone.

When interviewed prior to being sworn into office on Jan. 4, Erdman – whose district includes Cheyenne County – said property taxes present the largest issue for both residents of his district and the state at large.

Erdman said property tax currently pays 48 percent of funding for counties, cities and schools; while sales tax contributes 19 percent and income tax pays for 33 percent.

Erdman said the state needs to find a better way to fund public services such as schools, counties and city governments than by using property tax.

“Property tax contributes an unfair amount of money to do those things, and we need to transfer some of that to sales tax,” Erdman said. “What we've got to do is figure out how much wasteful spending the state has – which there is a bunch.”

The senator-elect said the legislature needs to figure out how to shift some of the funding burden from property tax over to sales tax.

“That'll be my focus,” Erdman said.

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