1967 - c. 487 - Sales and income tax adopted.

c. 494 - Household goods exempted from the property tax. The original cost of the exemption was estimated to be $9.7 million.

c. 498 - Intangible property exempted from the property tax.

1969 - c. 629 - City sales tax authorized.

c. 632 - Homestead exemption program created. The original cost of the program was $6.4 million and today the cost is about $35 million.

1972 - LB 1241 - 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 local governments due to the exemption.

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.

1982 - LB 816 - Distributed money to schools, cities, counties, and Natural Resources Districts based on formulas rather than as reimbursement of lost 1977 property tax base. Most of the $82.6 million was distributed to school districts on a per student basis. Seventeen million dollars was distributed to municipalities based on population and $17 million to counties and $0.5 million to Natural Resources Districts based on the amount of property taxes levied by each county or NRD compared to others.

1983 - LB 396 - Eliminated a general homestead exemption that exempted the first $800 of value of a homestead valued at $4,000 or more. The cost savings was $4.7 million.

1984 - LB 809 - Adopted a general homestead exemption of $3,000 and required property tax statements to reflect that the state was financing the exemptions. This was estimated to cost about $18 million. However, the program was delayed and then repealed after one year. It was never implemented.

1985 - LB 271 - Changed the valuation methodology for agricultural land to one based on the earning capacity of the land. This change was in response to the Kearney Convention Center case and the subsequent constitutional amendment.

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.

LB 727 - Delayed the effective date of the general homestead exemption enacted by LB 809 (1984) until January 1, 1986.

LB 6 (2nd Special Session) - Repealed the $3,000 general homestead exemption.

1986 - LB 1258 - Provided for a sliding scale for homestead exemption benefits for elderly and disabled beneficiaries as income increased.

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.

LB 1105 eliminated the sliding scale of benefits for homestead exemptions and provided that those with income below the filing threshold of $10,400 received the full $35,000 exemption.

1989 - LB 84 - Granted an 8.5% reduction in property valuation or a $5,400 general homestead exemption for 1989 only, the reductions to be financed by the state. Total cost - $114 million.

LB 361 - Changed the assessment of agricultural and horticultural land so that the results could be adjusted to be uniform across county lines.

1990 - LB 1059 increased the sales tax rate from 4% to 5% and the income tax rates by 8.5% for 1990 and an additional 8.5% 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. 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. Total cost when fully implemented was about $210 million.

1991 - LB 320 - Changed the assessment of agricultural land so that the capitalization rate used to set value is market-derived. The capitalization rate was increased 25% so that the resulting values from the income calculation correlate to 80% of market value. This change was made in response to Banner County v. Bd. Of Equal. which held that separate classification of agricultural land as allowed by the Constitution does not authorize the assessment of such land non-uniformly or disproportionately. The change was to be effective for 1992.

LB 404 - Froze agricultural and horticultural land values for tax year 1991 at the 1990 value. This was to give time to respond to Banner County.

LB 829 - Exempted all personal property from the property tax for 1991 only and reimbursed local governments for the loss using a series of revenue-raising proposals including a depreciation surcharge, a corporate income tax surcharge, a temporary reduction in the sales tax collection fee, extending the sales tax to manufacturing energy, and a one-year increase in the corporate occupation tax.. The total cost was $120 million.

1992 - LB 1063 - Adopted net book value approach for the valuation of all personal property and therefore added farm machinery to the tax rolls. The reduction in value for personal property other than previously-exempted farm machinery averaged about 20%. Had no constitutional amendment passed to authorize the net book value approach to valuation of personal property, the bill called for assessing all personal property, including farm and business inventories at actual value. LB 1063 also allowed a refund of sales taxes paid on farm machinery, provided the machinery appeared on the personal property tax schedule. The revenue lost from the sales tax exemption was replaced with a temporary $4 per ton tax on commercial fertilizer and a reduction in county personal property tax replacement aid of $3.5 million.

LB 719A - provided that the personal property value of railroads be reduced in proportion to the share of personal property that is not subject to tax under the net book value approach, primarily inventory.

LR 219CA - Placed a constitutional amendment on the primary ballot for 1992 that separated personal property from real property for purposes of the uniformity clause, authorized personal property to be either taxed on actual value or net book value while allowing reasonable classifications to be exempt, and set apart a classification for the property of entities that are protected by federal law, like railroads.

1993 - LB 346 - Provided that a 4.5% excise tax be levied on rental motor vehicles. Proceeds from the tax are to be retained by the car rental company to pay motor vehicle property taxes and any excess is to be remitted to counties to be distributed like property taxes.

1994 - LB 961 - Exempted livestock from the personal property tax and reduced the fertilizer tax from $4 per ton to $1 per ton beginning in 1997. The proceeds of the tax were used to fund ethanol incentives through 1996 and natural resources enhancement through 2000, when the fertilizer tax was terminated.

LB 902 - Enacted significant reform of the homestead exemption program. This bill (1) included various forms of otherwise tax exempt income within the definition of household income, (2) increased the exempt amount and allowed it to increase as the average home value in the county increases, (3) increased the income eligibility amounts and adopted a graduated scale of benefits based on income, and (4) adopted a maximum value of the home qualification. Overall, these changes were revenue neutral.

1995 - LB 452 - Revised the property tax calendar so that equalization occurs first in the process, before individual valuation protests.

LB 490 - Created the Tax Equalization and Review Commission to hear appeals of property tax valuation and exemption disputes instead of the district courts. The bill also separated the property tax division from the Department of Revenue and called for the Property Tax Administrator to be separately appointed by the Governor to a definite six-year term.

LB 830 - Adopted the Nebraska Redevelopment Act. This act allows companies that meet the sales thresholds of investment and employment as the Quality Jobs Act, to receive tax increment financing for a project on vacant land and areas up to ten miles outside city limits. The act terminated in 2000.

LR 3CA - Placed on the ballot for the primary election in 1996 a proposal to eliminate the State Board of Equalization as the body that equalizes assessments between counties and replace it with the TERC. The constitutional amendment was ultimately approved by the people.

1996 - LB 1050 - Revised the school aid formula to (1) limit the amount of income tax rebate to $82 million, (2) change the distribution of Insurance Premium Tax dollars from per student to being included as part of the equalization aid program, and (3) created an incentive for schools that consolidate.

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. Exceptions were for bonded debt, grandfathered building fund projects for schools, grandfathered capital lease purchases, and voter-approved 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 1177 - Created the Municipal Equalization Fund and provided for aid to municipalities that are unable to raise the average amount of property tax revenue per capita with the average property tax levy. The bill also allowed counties to levy a sales tax of up to 1.5% to support the county share of jointly provided public safety services.

1997 - LB 269 - (1) Changed the levy limit for community colleges from 8 cents through 2000-01 and 4 cents thereafter to 8 cents through 1999-2000 and 7 cents thereafter, (2) created a new equalization formula for funding community colleges that makes up for any difference between the maximum levy times the valuation for the area and 40% of the total spending allowed to the area, (3) provided for levy allocation by municipalities for Community Redevelopment Authorities, city airport authorities and other entities created by cities, and (4) divided municipalities into three different size groupings for purposes of the equalization formula provided in LB 1177 (1996).

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 tax if the MSRP of the vehicle is more new 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.

LB 397 - Implemented LR 3CA (1995) by granting the TERC the authority to equalize values between counties.

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. 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.

LB 875 - Amended community redevelopment law (tax increment financing) to (1) require a hearing and specific notice to other affected local governments of the redevelopment plan, (2) require any land within the redevelopment plan to be annexed into the city, (3) require a finding that the proposed project would not be feasible with TIF, and (4) require a cost benefit analysis before approving a TIF project beginning January 1, 1999.

1998 - LB 149 - Made a school finance change that provided that the amount of school aid to be provided by the state is to be the full amount needed to fund all calculated needs of schools, assuming a local effort rate equal to 10 cents less than the levy limit.

LB 695 - Provided an equalized aid program for counties. The program distributes about $6 million annually to counties that are unable to generate the average number of dollars per road mile by levying the average county property tax rate. The bill also provided that counties receive $35 per day for state prisoners held in county jails.

LB 1120 - Created an aid program for rural and suburban fire protection districts that cooperate by setting a uniform tax rate to finance these services in the great majority of any one county. The aid amount is $10 per rural resident within the agreement. The annual cost is about $2.5 million.

LR 45CA 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 36 - Created the Department of Property Assessment and Taxation as a separate state agency.

LB 142 - Implemented part of LR 45CA by providing that the proceeds from the motor vehicle tax be distributed 60% to the school district 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 179 - Increased the homestead exemption income eligibility amounts and expanded the definition of disability for purposes of eligibility. The cost of this expansion was $8.8 million.

LB 271 - Implemented part of LR 45CA by placing government-owned property not in a public use on the tax rolls. In most cases, taxes are to be assessed to the lessee of government-owned property as if it were owned by the lessee.

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 - Statutorily reduced the calculated needs of schools by about 1.25% for 2002-03 through 2004-05 to reduce school aid by about $22 million.

2003 - LB 540 - Allows schools to increase their levies by up to five cents per one hundred dollars of taxable valuation with a three-fourths vote of the school board to make up for the loss of state aid. The increased levy authority is for fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05 only.

LB 622 - LB 622 eliminated most of the per capita distribution of any funds remaining in the Municipal Equalization Fund after the total needs of the formula have been satisfied. Instead only $300,000 of the excess funds will be distributed to cities and the rest will be deposited in the State General Fund. The $300,000 will be distributed per capita only to those cities and villages without a local sales tax. The bill also suspended distributions under the county equalization program for fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05 and requires a 40-cent levy as a minimum effort for distributions made after that.

LR 2CA – Placed on the November 2004 ballot a proposal to amend Article VIII, Section 2 of the Nebraska Constitution to allow the exemption from property taxes, in whole or in part, the increased value of property created by rehabilitating or preserving historically significant real property. The proposed amendment was adopted by the people in 2004.

2004 - LB 644 requires local county assessors to report every four years all property owned by governmental entities and, if it is subject to tax, its value and taxes levied.

2005 – LB 66 – LB 66 implemented Amendment 2 which was adopted by the people in November 2004 and allowed the exemption of the increased value of real property caused by rehabilitating or preserving historically significant real property. The bill allowed a property tax assessment preference for property that is on the National Register of Historic Places or would be eligible for such designation as determined by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Essentially, the value of the property will remain fixed at the pre-rehabilitation value for eight years after rehabilitation is complete before phasing in to full market value assessment over four additional years

LB 261 - Repealed outright the authorization for Agricultural and Horticultural Land Valuation Boards.

2006 – LB 808 – In addition to a number of procedural changes, LB 808 modified the greenbelt provisions of Nebraska law. Generally, the changes narrowed the availability of greenbelt, but the bill also eliminated zoning as a requirement for greenbelt and phased out the requirements of recapture over three years.

Under LB 808, the land must be "agricultural land" rather than merely being in agricultural use. "Agricultural land" means that an entire parcel must be predominantly used for the commercial production of agricultural products under LB 808.

LB 968 – LB 968 provided a new sales tax exemption for construction labor performed on single family homes, duplexes, and a refund for owner-occupied condominiums, effective July 1, 2006. The bill also enacted a variety of income tax cuts and credits that were effective for the 2006 tax year.

Regarding the property tax, the bill decreased the assessment percentage for agricultural land from 80% to 75% of actual value, effective January 1, 2007 and eliminated the termination date for the increase in the school levy to $1.05 per $100 of taxable value. Under the LB 968, the levy limit will remain $1.05 rather than returning to $1.00 in 2009.

The bill also made changes to increase the benefits available under the homestead exemption program, also effective for 2007. The exempt amount was increased from the greater of $40,000 or 80% of the average home value in the county to the greater of $40,000 or 100%. For disabled an veteran beneficiaries, the exempt amount increased from the greater of $50,000 or 100% to the greater of $50,000 or 120%. The maximum value also increased from the greater of $95,000 or 150% of the average home value in the county to the greater of $95,000 or 200%. The maximum value for handicapped and veteran claimants also increased a comparable amount.

2007 - LB 334 - LB 334 amended more than 150 sections of statute to strike references to the “Department of Property Assessment and Taxation” and the “Property Tax Administrator” and replace them with the “Department of Revenue” or the “Tax Commissioner” respectively. The bill merged the two departments and established a Property Assessment Division within the Department of Revenue. The bill was operative July 1, 2007.

The bill also excluded trade fixtures from the definition of real property and included trade fixtures within the definition of personal property. Finally, LB 334 required county treasurers collecting taxes on behalf of fire districts and county agricultural societies to remit tax proceeds in the same manner as other local governments rather than through a warrant procedure, required county assessors to review properties on a cycle to assure that all parcels have been inspected and reviewed at least every six years.

LB 367 - was a multi-faceted tax cut proposal involving sales taxes, income taxes, property taxes and estate taxes.

Regarding property taxes, the bill created a cash fund to be distributed to counties based on valuation and fund a property tax credit for all real property owners. The amount in the cash fund is $105 million for tax year 2007 and $115 million for 2008. Amounts after 2008 will be set by the Legislature. The resulting levy reductions will be about 8 cents per $100 of taxable valuation for 2007 and 2008.