1972 - LB1241 - Exempted one-eighth of the value of business and farm inventories, livestock, and farm machinery beginning in 1973 and one-eighth of the value each year thereafter for four years. By 1977 such property was valued and taxed at three-eighths of its actual value. The state replaced all of the money lost to all local governments due to the exemption based on the remaining valuation.

1977 - LB 518 - Exempted the remaining three eighths of the value of business and farm inventories, livestock and farm machinery over the succeeding three years. For 1978, 100% of farm inventories and farm machinery was exempt, in 1979, 100% of business inventories was exempt and in 1980, livestock was exempt. At first, the state replaced the lost income based on the assessments of such property in 1977, but after the Nebraska Supreme Court struck down this distribution as constituting a permanently closed class, violative of the Special Legislation Clause, a change was made in 1982. The total amount reimbursed was $82.6 million and about $45 million was for schools which included reimbursement for the loss of intangible property and household goods. It was distributed per student enrolled in the school.

1986 - LB 662 - Called for the merger or affiliation of all Class I districts by September 1, 1989 and increased the sales tax rate by one percent for the purpose of limiting property tax support of K 12 schools to no more than 45% of total costs. LB 662 was referred to the ballot by petition and repealed by the voters in the November 1986 election.

1988 - LB 1091 - Created a fund to reimburse local governments for any losses attributable to the railroad 4R Act litigation that exceeded one percent of expected property tax dollars. After line item vetoes and partial overrides, the amount appropriated to the fund from the Cash Reserve Fund totaled $7.7 million.

1990 - LB 1059 increased the sales tax rate from 4% to 5% and the income tax rates by 8 1/2% for 1990 and an additional 8 ½% for 1991 to fund the Tax Equity and Educational Support Act. This landmark school finance legislation dramatically increased state aid distributed to schools in an "equalized" manner. The $100 million per student distribution was eliminated and added to $210 million of new money generated by the tax increases.

School costs were calculated per student within nine "tiers" or groups of similarly-sized schools and the formula enabled each school district to finance the average cost per student for the tier with a combination of state aid and property taxes at a defined "local effort rate". The rate varied based on the amount of appropriation available. LB 1059 also "rebated" 20% of the income tax paid by residents of the district to the district. The informal practice until LB 806 changed the state aid policy was to appropriate the original $100 million plus all revenue attributed to the increases in the sales and income tax rates to state aid distributed under TEEOSA.

1996 - LB 1114 - Imposed levy limits on all local governments to limit the total property tax rate (excluding exceptions) to $2.24 per $100 of taxable value beginning in 1998 and $2.13 when fully implemented in 2001. The levy limits for schools were $1.10 per $100 of taxable value from 1998 through 2000 and $1.00 per $100 beginning in 2001. Exceptions were for bonded debt, grandfathered building fund projects for schools, grandfathered capital lease purchases, and voted overrides. Another crucial change was the concept of allocated levies, wherein counties were responsible for allocating levy authority to dozens of small, miscellaneous governments within the 45 cent limit of the county.

LB 1050 - Revised the school aid formula to (1) limit the amount of income tax rebate to $102 million and pay net option student support from the rebate amount, (2) change the distribution of Insurance Premium Tax dollars from a per student distribution to including the proceeds as part of the equalization aid program, and (3) created a financial incentive for schools that consolidate.

1997 - LB 271 - Eliminated the property tax on motor vehicles and replaced it with a uniform, statewide tax and fee system. The fee is a nominal amount, generally between $5 and $30 and the proceeds are distributed to cities and counties based on the distribution of Highway Trust Fund dollars. The motor vehicle tax is determined from a table that begins with a higher initial tax as MSRP of the vehicle when new increases and declines with the age of the motor vehicle itself. The schedule was designed seeking a reduction in taxes on motor vehicles of about $15 million from the previous year property tax amounts but the actual proceeds turned out to be $30 million less. The money was originally distributed to all local governments in proportion to their relative levies.

LB 806 - Revised the school aid formula by eliminating the tiers created in LB 1059 (1990) and providing for only three cost groupings, sparse, very sparse, and standard. Nearly all schools are in the standard cost grouping. The bill also provided for allocation or calculation of the budget for Class I schools that are part of a Class VI system or are affiliated with another K-12 district, thus integrating the levy of each "system" into the levy limits of LB 1114 (1996). Finally, the bill increased the appropriation for school aid by $110 million.

1998 - LR 45 CA placed four separate constitutional amendments on the 1998 general election ballot as follows: (1) strike the requirement that motor vehicle taxes be distributed to local governments in proportion to property taxes levied, (2) provide for the merger or consolidation of cities and counties, (3) limit the property tax exemption for government property to property used for a public purpose, and (4) strike all references to townships in the Constitution. The first three amendments succeeded while the fourth failed.

1999 - LB 142 - Implemented part of LR 45 CA by providing that the proceeds from the motor vehicle tax be distributed 60% to the school where the vehicle is registered, 22% to the county and 18% to the city except in Douglas County where the city-county shares are reversed.

LB 881 - Used the Cash Reserve Fund to provide for specific property tax relief programs. For 1999, $30 million was distributed to Community Colleges based on valuation. For 2000, $35 million (later reduced to $25 million) was used for a direct credit against real estate taxes. The $30 million additional distribution to Community Colleges was also repeated in 2000 using General Funds. Finally, in 2001, $35 million was transferred to the General Fund to help finance the additional school aid needed to fund the reduction in the levy limit for schools from $1.10 per $100 of taxable value to $1.00.

2002 - LB 898 - Reduced school aid by $22 million for fiscal years 2002-03 through 2004-05 by reducing needs from that calculated by the formula by 1.25%. Schools were allowed a levy exception equal to the state aid reduction.