Pillen changes part of tax plan that worried Nebraska law enforcement

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Gov. Jim Pillen is adjusting his tax cut plan after law enforcement agencies raised concerns over public safety.

Pillen’s plan is an effort to slash property taxes in half.

The plan would put a hard spending growth cap on local governments, which would ban them from raising their property tax collections.

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But most cities and counties spend a large portion of their budget on law enforcement.

So many agencies were worried that a hard cap would limit their ability to keep Nebraskans safe.

The bills that make up the plan are still in committee in the special legislative session.

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Several law enforcement agencies spoke to senators about their concerns.

“The beauty of our job is we never know what we’re going to face every day,” Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said. “The bad part about our job is we never know what we’re going to face every day.”

Wagner said cities and counties can’t plan for things like riots or homicides, which are costly to law enforcement.

“If you have a cap on your spendings, then what else is going to suffer?” Wagner asked. “Because you have to fund what you have to fund.”

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Pillen and Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly said they took these concerns under consideration and are removing the hard cap for first responder agencies.

“So the issue that we heard loud and strong was, ‘We don’t want to be bound by a lid that keeps us from keeping the people safe.'”