Gov. Pillen plans to call special session in July

LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen offered one of the clearest timelines yet Monday for when he might call a special session on property tax relief this summer.

“To any state senator reading this — clear your schedule from July 26 to August 15,” Pillen wrote in his latest column. “We have the people’s work to do.”

In his “save-the-date” announcement, Pillen made clear he will follow through with a stated goal to reduce property tax obligations for Nebraskans in 2024, after a previous plan failed to pass in the regular session.

At a dozen town halls across Nebraska, he has offered ideas that he says could help shave off another $1 billion for property tax relief, adding on to 2023 efforts.

The governor’s goal is that by the end of his second year in office, he will have shifted or eliminated 40%, or about $2 billion, from the state’s annual pool for local property taxes.

Speaker John Arch of La Vista, who sets the Legislature’s daily agenda, said in a statement that the “savethe- date” announcement came as no surprise because property taxes are important to Nebraskans, and they need to be addressed.

Arch said he has discussed possible dates with the governor should he choose to call a special session. Pillen committed to doing so in April, telling senators they should “enjoy halftime.”

“Regardless, his recent remarks are not an official call for a special session, and I fully expect he will let members of the Legislature know of his intentions prior to making an official proclamation,” Arch said.

That proclamation would also need to stipulate the scope of legislation that can be considered.

Senators have already vowed to stretch the limits of what legislation they can introduce, such as to expand gambling or revive a proposal vetoed in April to allow lawsuits against political subdivisions in certain cases of child abuse and child sexual assault.

“So we’re legalizing marijuana, decreasing our prison population, scrapping the plan to build a $350m prison and equitably taxing people?” State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha said on X, formerly Twitter.

Multiple senators reached Monday afternoon said they hadn’t received notice of the special session time frame prior to the governor’s column being released.

In his short column, Pillen focused on property valuation increases in the wake of valuation notices that have gone out recently, stating that a “common reaction … can be summed up in one word — outrage.”

“Countless Nebraskans are in disbelief when they see the recent increases in home values,” Pillen said.

“Double digit increases in valuations year over year is not something we should accept,” he said. “However, special interest groups have intimidated and paralyzed our Legislature.”

A preliminary report on real property tax valuation estimates for 2024 shows double-digit valuation increases in 50 of the state’s 93 counties. Boone County increased the most, at 27.93%. The three counties with the most people — Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy — increased by 7.85%, 5.49% and 10.72% in valuations, respectively. The report does not include personal or state assessed property values.