Sen. Hughes covers variety of topics during meeting with commissioners

    Property taxes, rural health care, school funding and more were topics covered during a visit from State Sen. Dan Hughes at  the June 25 Chase County Commissioners’ meeting.
    Hughes jumped right in with a discussion on property tax relief. No one has ever told him their income taxes are too high, he said, but everyone believes their property taxes are.
    He said several different versions of property tax relief failed to gain a foothold.
    Removing sales tax exemptions, such as for zoos, was one suggestion. No sales tax on food is also a hot button issue. If sales tax exemptions were removed, lowering the property tax rate is a definite possibility, he indicated.
    One problem with lowering property taxes is finding a new income source, which is then paired with finding a reliable redistribution method, with education being a key concern.
    “There’s no state aid coming to small schools, and that’s not right,” he said.
    While the state aid formula works well for Lincoln or Omaha, it’s a huge burden on local property owners.

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