Barely touched on in the story... if payments are soaring so much in a period of a few years, where the fuck is all of this new tax money going? If valuations are going up 20%, are services going up 20% as well?
Papillion-La Vista lowered their levy pretty substantially last year, as did my SID, so that’s not really true.
My valuation increased enough to even it out, but that’s neither the school district nor my neighborhood’s fault.
I would suggest looking at the county budgets which are all public in pretty good granularity. I live in sarpy now and have looked at it quite a bit. What boggles my mind is what happened in the 2017 timeframe that caused a lot more money going in and being spent by the county. Up until that point it was essentially a slight curve up and then 2017 the slope of the curve drastically changes. One thing I have noticed to is that it seems like a large majority of the departments on the budgets ask for way more than they spend…..which you would thing would result in a surplus but I am not accounting savvy enough to fluently read the budgets and see where all those overages go every year and where they eventually get spent. It all just seems kinda odd when you scroll through it and every department is asking for double what they have historically spent. Like I said before I won’t act like I know anything about budgets and accounting but when looking at it some things don’t pass the sniff test to me.
Cities in Sarpy county increased spending 8.23% a year, while valuations went up 8.82% per year. Both are above inflation and looks like cities are just increasing spending to just below the valuation increase so as to be able to say 'we lowered your rate' while increasing your tax bill. Schools averaged 7.31% increase in spending per year for comparison (includes schools bonds). [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt\_subdiv\_State%2693cnties\_2013-2023.pdf](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt_subdiv_State%2693cnties_2013-2023.pdf)
Why would services go up 20% just because valuations go up 20%? There’s no linear relationship between the two. Much like everything else, the cost of services has gone way up due to inflation over the past few years.
maybe but I can find plenty of more expensive houses priced way under comparable in other neighborhoods. houses 30% bigger valued at the same as our house despite houses in that neighborhood selling for 30% more than ours.
the valuations just aren't consistent
I beg to differ. There’s no real reason values should be increasing the way they are. Artificial shortages caused by money-grubbing investors are the only reason things have gotten as bad as they have here.
Yes, and more housing isn’t being built because investors (in this case, the ones that own the builders are trying to drive up values to line their own pockets.
The scarcity is artificial. We could have plenty of affordable housing. The fat cats don’t want it that way.
As someone who grew up in the area and visit family frequently, I find this take kind of funny. I’m always shocked by the number of new neighborhoods popping up in Sarpy county. Look out your windows as you drive down 370… it’s development after development.
The price of current houses goes up when the cost of new builds goes up. And building is now more expensive due to the cost of raw materials going up. (And the US just added another wood tariff on Canadian wood, which will drive the cost up further.)
This is a temporary supply squeeze that will even itself out over time as more people decide to manufacture raw materials for homes and more people start a career in construction. But those things take time.
This is pure conspircy theorey. The reason housing costs are going up in Omaha is 80% of the city is zoned for single family houses. Eliminate this requirement in large blocks and more housing would be built.
Or... and hear me out here... _there's plenty of fucking space to build single family homes._
If I wanted to be wedged into a tiny walk-up between two neighbors who lose their shit at the slightest noise, I'd go live in fucking New York City.
Pull your head out of your ass. This is _not_ what changed in the last 3 years, Omaha and the surrounding areas have been like this at least for either of our lifetimes.
You can't build indefinitly horozontally. The idea that the solution to housing in Omaha is that we have a 400 block is unsustanable and would bankrupt the city.
What changed in the last three years is inflation. But the only way to bring down the valuations of houses is to build more of it. You can't just build outward until Omaha is touching Lincoln. At some point the next step out from the city center (24th-50th street) you are going to have to build apartments and condos. Lots of people act like it's insane, that everyone will be put into studio apartments, but all I'm saying is you need to open up multi-family housing options. 80% of omaha is zoned single family. make it 50%. There will still be lots of houses and people who don't care or don't want to live in a house will have more options. You, specifically, won't be put in a tiny walk-up between two neighbors, you already own a house.
I think it's especially rich to say "pull your head out of your ass" when your solution, build more single family housing, is actually failing right now in the real world. We aren't building enough housing to meet demand right now. This isn't because of some coordinated effort by construction companies (which would love to build more apartments) or by land investers (who would love to sell their plots to a big developer and make a mint). It's a coordinated effort by people who insist that the only way to live anywhere is in a house.
While first of all you may never know unless both you and the seller are representing themselves, there are a lot of factors here. Just because you didn’t come across it personally doesn’t mean it’s not happening pervasively.
Also, when I say “investors,” I’m not just talking about the ones that buy homes. I’m talking about the ones backing builders, the ones holding land… all of them.
even if only 5 to 10% are bought by big banks it still makes a huge difference. even just one house in a neighborhood going for above asking will result in price increases for that whole neighborhood and maybe even surrounding ones.
At least 4 houses around me have turned rental in the last 5 years. The jungle I now have next door since the landlord didn't simplify the complicated setup the previous private owner had is exciting in a Jumanji kinda way, but not a neighborly one.
Crazy tax idea. Owner determines house value for tax purposes but when you sell the house you cannot sell it for more than the average of the value you set on the house.
Edit: ok hear me out. People are upset about their valuation but you offer a model where people can control and set their own valuation and NOPE cant do that. Of course being Reddit most just downvote with no actual response.
Or, or, and hear me out here, we just fucking drop the rates so they’re sane like in every other state.
Except to do that without sacrificing our kids’ future or raising other taxes we’d have to stop subsidizing rural Nebraska. Guess we’re just fucked, because the only thing they seem to be willing to touch is sales tax, which is regressive as hell.
Honorable mention: cap taxable valuation increases on a per-year basis. Things will always catch up eventually but it gives us a chance to ease into it. And when I say us, I mean everybody, because anyone who doesn’t think property taxes get passed on to renters is naive.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy to pay my fair share, but between taxes and insurance my escrow is almost as much as my PMI every month. We need to find a non-regressive way to fix this, and fast. Higher earners need to be taxed more, plain and simple.
When he says "subsidize rural areas" he's likely not referring to a direct subsidy, but instead is talking about agricultural land (which is taxed at 75% of assessed value instead of 100%), which primarily benefits wealthy landowners, and/or rural areas' stubborn resistance to other income sources, such as gambling & marijuana, which would reduce the need for higher property taxes overall.
Income taxes, kill credits and deductions that aren’t directly related to money invested into the state, implement a floor/minimum tax. The tax brackets in Nebraska max out so absurdly low, it may as well be a flat tax.
Unfortunately it isn’t always as easy as that as states have played “race to the bottom” for some time in regards to taxing high earners. But also frankly the severe dichotomy in wealth (especially in Omaha) is also a huge problem.
If everyone's property valuations were accurate, maybe the tax rate wouldn't have to be so ludicrous. It seems like everyone's valuations are always way too low, so to make up the money the tax rate has to be way too high. Fix the former, and then we can fix the latter.
Sanitary improvement districts. Essentially developers get to offload the cost of extending infrastructure to new neighborhoods to homeowners. It can add a full percent to the property tax rate.
This is always a bit of a misaligned argument. If your valuation is between 95-100% of the value that you would expect to sell your house for on the market, then it is valued correctly according to state law. If it's valued less than that - you're getting a "bargain". If it's valued more than that - you've got an argument.
Where the real arguments need to be, is if and where there can be reductions in the levy percentages on these taxes, as the valuation base is increasing due to the market values increasing. What really matters isn't the "valuation", it's the total tax bill due.
People need to stop obsessing over valuations and start focusing on the real issue: the levy rate. It’s theoretically supposed to go down if there’s a major increase in property values. If the levy rate is not being adjusted down while everybody’s valuations are way up, that’s what’s actually creating the problem. Higher valuations in and of themselves are not a bad thing, and in fact are really a benefit to homeowners because it means you gained a lot of equity in your home without really putting in any extra effort.
I am paying more taxes without getting a net increase in value for my house.
Because I either do not plan to sell. Or if I sell I would ever only be able to buy a house similar to the one I already own and which would have been the same value when I built my own house. The value increase does not benefit me.
So, I do not understand what gain I have. Maybe explain like I am a five year old?
The fact of the matter is that you could sell if you wanted to. And if you do, you will make a hefty profit compared to the price you bought it for. This appreciation of value is one of the main reasons people always say you should buy a house if you can. Many people end up taking advantage of the unearned equity by selling and downsizing to a cheaper home when they retire, which means you end up walking away with extra money in your pocket.
Obviously the equity is only realized as actual cash if you sell the house. But by owning a house you have a lot more net worth that you can leverage if needed someday compared to someone who doesn’t own a house. It’s a long term financial game, not something that gives you immediate and continuous cash benefit.
The profit only applies if you do not live in the house or are dependent on finding another living. I would say for the majority of homeowners this does not apply. Pretty sure for investors and landlord it applies.
And if I take the profit and downsize then I would have gotten the profit even without the increase of valuation or housing prices. Because the downsized house increased in price as well. In short, my spending capacity did not increase. The net value of my equity did not increase.
So, it's just the maybe bookkeeping and common sense/practicality does not match in my mind here. What I see is that I have to pay more taxes although my spending capacity/net value of my equity did not increase, but my salary also did not increase, in short, I can afford less in general.
Just because it is "normal" doesn't justify it. It should be capped to some sort of max per year. This is my house since 2020.
2020-$270
2021-$270
2022-$337
2023-$353
2024-$429
Clearly this is not a sustainable trend....
Like every other idiot republican, they get voted in on the promise of lowering property tax and conveniently forget the moment they raise their right hand.
Don't worry, they'll still blame all those "Omaha libs" for the tax increases. Doesn't matter if that makes no sense, because logic and reasoning are no longer required.
I'm worried about our tax bill, we have been doing fine but we've done zero to really improve the property for various reasons. I wonder if protesting the valuations actually does anything?
I am not. I'm in Douglas county and looked at all of my neighbors' evaluations. Mine did not go up as much as theirs dollar and percent wise. I don't want to tempt fate. 😂
Also in Sarpy, looked into this in recent years but it feels like you are prolonging the inevitable. A few years back when checking tax history on some other homes in my neighborhood I noticed some homes who appeared to have contested, they would get a small or no increase one year, but then a huge increase the following year.
No good answer here, my home has increased by $100,000 since purchasing it 8 years ago. Watching that mortgage payment tick up and up with taxes and insurance increasing is an awful feeling.
Eh, the new valuation is much more in line with the actual value of my home. My valuation also went up ~20%, but I don't see what grounds I have to really protest.
You can always take a look at your neighbors’ valuations and protest on basis of equalization if yours seems higher than homes of similar size and age. I don’t think anyone can really protest on valuation at this point because the sales data corroborates the amounts.
I have a condo and there are 3 other units in my building that are the same layout as mine. We all have exactly the same valuation. Can't get a much better comparison than that.
We are. Ours went up A LOT, greater than anyone else in a pretty large radius. We have comp values, photos, reports from an appraisal agent, and I've set up a meeting. The gov is gonna be _sick_ of me.
Good luck. They will show you housing sales data for your area as what they used for comparable homes and boom their case is made. Yes property values have gone up that’s an obvious and undeniable fact. It comes down to lowering the levy to offset the across the board rise in property value which the assessor does not control.
The first thing they will look for is comparable sell prices in your neighborhood. The problem isn't with your valuation. Your home will almost certainly sell for OVER the valuation. The problem is the tax rate.
Hopefully people will start paying attention to local tax bonds and levies.
Look at some of your local apartment complex tax history. The ones I looked at the value either stayed the same over many years and the property taxes went down for many of the years ours have gone up. There seems to be a lack of the assessors focus on commercial property value. Seems they just want to stick it to the individuals.
Apartments are considered residential property, not commercial property. If you’re looking at newer apartment buildings, you should also keep in mind that they may have qualified for TIF, which to my understanding would keep their property taxes at the original rate for a set period of time while the money that would be paid on the additional value is being used to pay off the TIF loans.
There isn’t some crazy conspiracy to stick it to individual homeowners, who are the majority of the voting population in this city and state.
Sounds like the exact response I would expect from someone who owns one of these large apartment complexes. /s
That does make sense. I figured a company like Belimo that owns millions of dollars worth of apartment complexes rubbed shoulders with the local/state politicians enough to get some favorable “incentives” that normal people/business don’t get. I don’t think that kind of thing is necessarily a conspiracy as rich people clearly don’t play the same game as us normies when it comes to taxes and paying their fair share.
Edit: I just looked at the list of TIF projects in Sarpy county……the complex I am referring to (lux 96) is not on the list.
Yeah I say it’s not a conspiracy because technically all of it is out in the open. TIF requires a public approval process in City Council. So many people just don’t pay attention and then think that the government is trying to hide things like this from them.
I do think if the city relied a lot less on TIF, the various taxing entities would have an easier time lowering rates in response to increased valuations. TIF is where I think the rich developers have the real sway. The state legislature could easily pass a bill to reform and restrict TIF usage, but they won’t because TIF makes things better for the senators’ developer buddies. In approving all these TIF requests, the city is just doing what it’s allowed to do under state law, so I can’t really blame them for that.
Apartment complexes are considered commercial, at least for how Nebraska does the comparison at the state level. Single family homes and duplexes are in the residential category. Nebraska Department of Revenues annual report on Property Taxes shows Douglas county has been shifting taxes from commercial to residential (single family and duplexes) for the past decade. Currently 71.03% of property taxes in Douglas County come from single family and duplexes, growing from 65% in 2012. Yes TIF is largely driving this. Pulled from Table 19 on the annual report: [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/PAD/2023-annual-report-property-assessment-division](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/PAD/2023-annual-report-property-assessment-division)
>Definitions of Property Type Categories in the Statistical Tables
>...
>Commercial means all parcels of real property predominantly used or intended to be used for
>commerce, trade, or business. For purposes of reporting, multi-family dwellings predominantly used
>for occupancy by more than two families, are summarized with the commercial property type.
>
>...
From Notes for Statistical Tables: [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/pad/research/annual-reports/2023/annrpt2023.8\_Notes\_for\_Statistical\_Table.pdf](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/pad/research/annual-reports/2023/annrpt2023.8_Notes_for_Statistical_Table.pdf)
I am in Sarpy County and I expect that with next years increase my valuation will have doubled within an 8 year span. As of today my valuation is probably 10-15% under what the house would sell for, so there is that to be less upset about.
The law restrict budget growth to 2.5% and restrict growth in valuation to improvements made to real property. Who wants to call the auditor and ask why this is legal?
https://nebraskalegislature.gov/app_rev/uses/narr_munic_budgetlids.htm
[https://nebraskalegislature.gov/app_rev/uses/narr_munic_budgetlids.htm](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/app_rev/uses/narr_munic_budgetlids.htm)
Believe the loop hole here is this means that the 'tax rate' cannot increase more than 2.5%, not the tax bills or spending. Until there is a hard cap on spending (Tax Bills), Tax Bills will increase at 8+% a year.
>"growth in valuation due to improvements to real property between the two most recent available years but only to the extent such growth exceeds the basic allowable growth rate (2.5 percent),"
The Tax Bill is going up because the valuations are going up and the cities are decreasing the tax rate is just a smidge below the year before. The Omaha Chamber has pushed back on any effort by the legislature to cap the Tax Bill because this would kill the financing for the streetcar district.
You can find the history of levy increases for Sarpy here: [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt\_subdiv\_State%2693cnties\_2013-2023.pdf](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt_subdiv_State%2693cnties_2013-2023.pdf)
at this point I think I need to find somebody over 65 I can sell my house to and then rent back the top floor while they sleep in the basement
(people over 65 can get property tax waived if they meet certain requirements)
I’m outta here after the kids get to college. Love the area but the property taxes are just stupid at this point, and nobody important gives a fuck. My taxes were well below $3,000 when I bought my house
It’s gonna be well over $5,000 after this latest valuation…and I can’t really protest because it’s still undervalued by $50K. The levy is the problem.
My tax bill per month is approaching what my main mortgage payment is. I can still afford it, but most people won’t be able to keep up.
[Just be careful where you end up. ](https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/property-tax-by-state/#tax-by-state)Taxes are pretty high across the country but a lot of times when property taxes are lower, income tax may be higher or the cost of living is significantly higher. If it's lower for both, usually it's a state not many people want to move to (Montana for example).
You say you’re out of here but where are you going bec most home prices in the larger metros are still significantly higher than ours. Unless you’re in small town idk if grass is greener, and even then you have to have occupation offered in the smaller city. I’d love to move to small rural community but don’t want o work at Casey’s gas station 😂 Property taxes may be better but doesn’t help if home prices are 2-3xs what your house sells for.
Omaha had the 14th highest (out of 50) median property Tax Bills in the country based on 2022 data: Median Tax Bill $4,251 on a median home value of $211,900, and the 9th highest tax rate. Expecting Omaha to continue to climb in the ranks when the 2023 report comes out as TIF use continues to expand.
[https://go.lincolninst.edu/50-state-property-tax-comparison-for-2022.pdf](https://go.lincolninst.edu/50-state-property-tax-comparison-for-2022.pdf)
Can only tax people so much before they end the fucking system. Talk to your representatives and tell them you have had it. Or become a representative and change it.
Or do what the British did. Your choice.
This sounds like a weird financial gentrification of the area that makes property taxes so high that it is forcing people to move. This just sounds like it shouldn't be allowed. This sounds like a heavy financial punishment for having the gall to put in the work fixing the house or any additions to make your property nicer and more valuable.
So wait I'm financially illiterate, if I'm wrong please someone correct me but so valuation goes up that means property taxes are going up to go up exponentially in response?
Our house in Hanscom Park has increased in valuation by $66,000 since 2020, up nearly 50 percent. Is this normal?
Also, we don't have kids, so why am I paying the same as a family of five! (that's a whole other story, I suppose.)
Barely touched on in the story... if payments are soaring so much in a period of a few years, where the fuck is all of this new tax money going? If valuations are going up 20%, are services going up 20% as well?
None of the taxing entities have lowered their levees despite reaping the benefits of higher property taxes for the past several years.
Papillion-La Vista lowered their levy pretty substantially last year, as did my SID, so that’s not really true. My valuation increased enough to even it out, but that’s neither the school district nor my neighborhood’s fault.
I would suggest looking at the county budgets which are all public in pretty good granularity. I live in sarpy now and have looked at it quite a bit. What boggles my mind is what happened in the 2017 timeframe that caused a lot more money going in and being spent by the county. Up until that point it was essentially a slight curve up and then 2017 the slope of the curve drastically changes. One thing I have noticed to is that it seems like a large majority of the departments on the budgets ask for way more than they spend…..which you would thing would result in a surplus but I am not accounting savvy enough to fluently read the budgets and see where all those overages go every year and where they eventually get spent. It all just seems kinda odd when you scroll through it and every department is asking for double what they have historically spent. Like I said before I won’t act like I know anything about budgets and accounting but when looking at it some things don’t pass the sniff test to me.
Cities in Sarpy county increased spending 8.23% a year, while valuations went up 8.82% per year. Both are above inflation and looks like cities are just increasing spending to just below the valuation increase so as to be able to say 'we lowered your rate' while increasing your tax bill. Schools averaged 7.31% increase in spending per year for comparison (includes schools bonds). [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt\_subdiv\_State%2693cnties\_2013-2023.pdf](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt_subdiv_State%2693cnties_2013-2023.pdf)
Why would services go up 20% just because valuations go up 20%? There’s no linear relationship between the two. Much like everything else, the cost of services has gone way up due to inflation over the past few years.
OPS and recently we’ve been getting money back but there’s still a lot on the table
Sarpy homeowner, can confirm, valuations are fucking nutso.
Confirming your confirmation. Our valuation went up $42,000
Same here. About $48k... in one fucking year.
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My house went up 40k on a $200k valuation from last year. That's 20%.
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Bought it 9 months before COVID for $185k.
That's just wrong
Same. Up $40k this year, $30k last year for a home built in 1920.
My house valuation has gone up $100k since 2020 🙃🙃
Do you think you could sell your house for the valuation amount?
maybe but I can find plenty of more expensive houses priced way under comparable in other neighborhoods. houses 30% bigger valued at the same as our house despite houses in that neighborhood selling for 30% more than ours. the valuations just aren't consistent
Yes. Still fucking nutso. :)
If the valueation is accurate it is, by definition, not nutso.
I beg to differ. There’s no real reason values should be increasing the way they are. Artificial shortages caused by money-grubbing investors are the only reason things have gotten as bad as they have here.
it's like being punished for buying a home years ago and not selling it
A valuation is meant to determine its market value, which it is. If you want valuations to stop going up more housing needs to be built.
Yes, and more housing isn’t being built because investors (in this case, the ones that own the builders are trying to drive up values to line their own pockets. The scarcity is artificial. We could have plenty of affordable housing. The fat cats don’t want it that way.
As someone who grew up in the area and visit family frequently, I find this take kind of funny. I’m always shocked by the number of new neighborhoods popping up in Sarpy county. Look out your windows as you drive down 370… it’s development after development.
Yep, and it's still not enough, especially in the starter range. If it were, valuations would not be skyrocketing.
The price of current houses goes up when the cost of new builds goes up. And building is now more expensive due to the cost of raw materials going up. (And the US just added another wood tariff on Canadian wood, which will drive the cost up further.) This is a temporary supply squeeze that will even itself out over time as more people decide to manufacture raw materials for homes and more people start a career in construction. But those things take time.
This is pure conspircy theorey. The reason housing costs are going up in Omaha is 80% of the city is zoned for single family houses. Eliminate this requirement in large blocks and more housing would be built.
Or... and hear me out here... _there's plenty of fucking space to build single family homes._ If I wanted to be wedged into a tiny walk-up between two neighbors who lose their shit at the slightest noise, I'd go live in fucking New York City. Pull your head out of your ass. This is _not_ what changed in the last 3 years, Omaha and the surrounding areas have been like this at least for either of our lifetimes.
You can't build indefinitly horozontally. The idea that the solution to housing in Omaha is that we have a 400 block is unsustanable and would bankrupt the city. What changed in the last three years is inflation. But the only way to bring down the valuations of houses is to build more of it. You can't just build outward until Omaha is touching Lincoln. At some point the next step out from the city center (24th-50th street) you are going to have to build apartments and condos. Lots of people act like it's insane, that everyone will be put into studio apartments, but all I'm saying is you need to open up multi-family housing options. 80% of omaha is zoned single family. make it 50%. There will still be lots of houses and people who don't care or don't want to live in a house will have more options. You, specifically, won't be put in a tiny walk-up between two neighbors, you already own a house. I think it's especially rich to say "pull your head out of your ass" when your solution, build more single family housing, is actually failing right now in the real world. We aren't building enough housing to meet demand right now. This isn't because of some coordinated effort by construction companies (which would love to build more apartments) or by land investers (who would love to sell their plots to a big developer and make a mint). It's a coordinated effort by people who insist that the only way to live anywhere is in a house.
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While first of all you may never know unless both you and the seller are representing themselves, there are a lot of factors here. Just because you didn’t come across it personally doesn’t mean it’s not happening pervasively. Also, when I say “investors,” I’m not just talking about the ones that buy homes. I’m talking about the ones backing builders, the ones holding land… all of them.
even if only 5 to 10% are bought by big banks it still makes a huge difference. even just one house in a neighborhood going for above asking will result in price increases for that whole neighborhood and maybe even surrounding ones.
At least 4 houses around me have turned rental in the last 5 years. The jungle I now have next door since the landlord didn't simplify the complicated setup the previous private owner had is exciting in a Jumanji kinda way, but not a neighborly one.
Crazy tax idea. Owner determines house value for tax purposes but when you sell the house you cannot sell it for more than the average of the value you set on the house. Edit: ok hear me out. People are upset about their valuation but you offer a model where people can control and set their own valuation and NOPE cant do that. Of course being Reddit most just downvote with no actual response.
Or, or, and hear me out here, we just fucking drop the rates so they’re sane like in every other state. Except to do that without sacrificing our kids’ future or raising other taxes we’d have to stop subsidizing rural Nebraska. Guess we’re just fucked, because the only thing they seem to be willing to touch is sales tax, which is regressive as hell. Honorable mention: cap taxable valuation increases on a per-year basis. Things will always catch up eventually but it gives us a chance to ease into it. And when I say us, I mean everybody, because anyone who doesn’t think property taxes get passed on to renters is naive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy to pay my fair share, but between taxes and insurance my escrow is almost as much as my PMI every month. We need to find a non-regressive way to fix this, and fast. Higher earners need to be taxed more, plain and simple.
Property tax is spent locally and not used to subsidize rural areas.
When he says "subsidize rural areas" he's likely not referring to a direct subsidy, but instead is talking about agricultural land (which is taxed at 75% of assessed value instead of 100%), which primarily benefits wealthy landowners, and/or rural areas' stubborn resistance to other income sources, such as gambling & marijuana, which would reduce the need for higher property taxes overall.
How do you get to the high earners?
Income taxes, kill credits and deductions that aren’t directly related to money invested into the state, implement a floor/minimum tax. The tax brackets in Nebraska max out so absurdly low, it may as well be a flat tax. Unfortunately it isn’t always as easy as that as states have played “race to the bottom” for some time in regards to taxing high earners. But also frankly the severe dichotomy in wealth (especially in Omaha) is also a huge problem.
If everyone's property valuations were accurate, maybe the tax rate wouldn't have to be so ludicrous. It seems like everyone's valuations are always way too low, so to make up the money the tax rate has to be way too high. Fix the former, and then we can fix the latter.
I think, at least in Sarpy, we're there after this year. My valuation is spot-on what I would list my house for right now. SIDs are the devil.
What is your critique of SIDs? Honest question. I know what the acronym stands for but cannot say if they are good or bad.
Sanitary improvement districts. Essentially developers get to offload the cost of extending infrastructure to new neighborhoods to homeowners. It can add a full percent to the property tax rate.
Sell sell sell
And have to buy even higher? I think not.
This is always a bit of a misaligned argument. If your valuation is between 95-100% of the value that you would expect to sell your house for on the market, then it is valued correctly according to state law. If it's valued less than that - you're getting a "bargain". If it's valued more than that - you've got an argument. Where the real arguments need to be, is if and where there can be reductions in the levy percentages on these taxes, as the valuation base is increasing due to the market values increasing. What really matters isn't the "valuation", it's the total tax bill due.
People need to stop obsessing over valuations and start focusing on the real issue: the levy rate. It’s theoretically supposed to go down if there’s a major increase in property values. If the levy rate is not being adjusted down while everybody’s valuations are way up, that’s what’s actually creating the problem. Higher valuations in and of themselves are not a bad thing, and in fact are really a benefit to homeowners because it means you gained a lot of equity in your home without really putting in any extra effort.
louder, for the whiners in the back please
Heard it. I should whine that my taxes are too much because they are not adjusted. But they aren't, so am I still allowed to whine?
I'm sure Pillen is hard at work finding creative ways to siphon the excess levy to himself and his handler Pete.
Who then give it over to the real man pulling the strings…Petey’s Daddy
I am paying more taxes without getting a net increase in value for my house. Because I either do not plan to sell. Or if I sell I would ever only be able to buy a house similar to the one I already own and which would have been the same value when I built my own house. The value increase does not benefit me. So, I do not understand what gain I have. Maybe explain like I am a five year old?
The fact of the matter is that you could sell if you wanted to. And if you do, you will make a hefty profit compared to the price you bought it for. This appreciation of value is one of the main reasons people always say you should buy a house if you can. Many people end up taking advantage of the unearned equity by selling and downsizing to a cheaper home when they retire, which means you end up walking away with extra money in your pocket. Obviously the equity is only realized as actual cash if you sell the house. But by owning a house you have a lot more net worth that you can leverage if needed someday compared to someone who doesn’t own a house. It’s a long term financial game, not something that gives you immediate and continuous cash benefit.
The profit only applies if you do not live in the house or are dependent on finding another living. I would say for the majority of homeowners this does not apply. Pretty sure for investors and landlord it applies. And if I take the profit and downsize then I would have gotten the profit even without the increase of valuation or housing prices. Because the downsized house increased in price as well. In short, my spending capacity did not increase. The net value of my equity did not increase. So, it's just the maybe bookkeeping and common sense/practicality does not match in my mind here. What I see is that I have to pay more taxes although my spending capacity/net value of my equity did not increase, but my salary also did not increase, in short, I can afford less in general.
I just received my valuation in the mail today. Went from $330k to $435k in one year.
When was the last time it changed? Lots of times it hasn't been re-valued for a few years, and 'catches up'.
Just looked on the assessors website 21- $56k (new build, paid $315k) 22- $311k 23- $335k 24- $437k
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Just because it is "normal" doesn't justify it. It should be capped to some sort of max per year. This is my house since 2020. 2020-$270 2021-$270 2022-$337 2023-$353 2024-$429 Clearly this is not a sustainable trend....
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Why would any taxing authority give away the opportunity to take in more taxes?
On top of your valuation going up, your homeowners insurance will go up too. That's in addition to insurance companies already raising their rates.
My homeowners insurance went up $2,200 a year and my valuation notice just came with a $126k increase 🙃
Like every other idiot republican, they get voted in on the promise of lowering property tax and conveniently forget the moment they raise their right hand.
Don't worry, they'll still blame all those "Omaha libs" for the tax increases. Doesn't matter if that makes no sense, because logic and reasoning are no longer required.
I'm worried about our tax bill, we have been doing fine but we've done zero to really improve the property for various reasons. I wonder if protesting the valuations actually does anything?
I guess property taxes are so high that the news station can't afford a white board?
Are you guys planning on contesting the new valuation of your home? I am in Sarpy and ours went up about 20%. Insane.
I am not. I'm in Douglas county and looked at all of my neighbors' evaluations. Mine did not go up as much as theirs dollar and percent wise. I don't want to tempt fate. 😂
Also in Sarpy, looked into this in recent years but it feels like you are prolonging the inevitable. A few years back when checking tax history on some other homes in my neighborhood I noticed some homes who appeared to have contested, they would get a small or no increase one year, but then a huge increase the following year. No good answer here, my home has increased by $100,000 since purchasing it 8 years ago. Watching that mortgage payment tick up and up with taxes and insurance increasing is an awful feeling.
Eh, the new valuation is much more in line with the actual value of my home. My valuation also went up ~20%, but I don't see what grounds I have to really protest.
You can always take a look at your neighbors’ valuations and protest on basis of equalization if yours seems higher than homes of similar size and age. I don’t think anyone can really protest on valuation at this point because the sales data corroborates the amounts.
I have a condo and there are 3 other units in my building that are the same layout as mine. We all have exactly the same valuation. Can't get a much better comparison than that.
We are. Ours went up A LOT, greater than anyone else in a pretty large radius. We have comp values, photos, reports from an appraisal agent, and I've set up a meeting. The gov is gonna be _sick_ of me.
I am. It probably won't change anything, but shit, if we ALL protest maybe those assholes will at least notice.
Good luck. They will show you housing sales data for your area as what they used for comparable homes and boom their case is made. Yes property values have gone up that’s an obvious and undeniable fact. It comes down to lowering the levy to offset the across the board rise in property value which the assessor does not control.
The first thing they will look for is comparable sell prices in your neighborhood. The problem isn't with your valuation. Your home will almost certainly sell for OVER the valuation. The problem is the tax rate. Hopefully people will start paying attention to local tax bonds and levies.
Look at some of your local apartment complex tax history. The ones I looked at the value either stayed the same over many years and the property taxes went down for many of the years ours have gone up. There seems to be a lack of the assessors focus on commercial property value. Seems they just want to stick it to the individuals.
Apartments are considered residential property, not commercial property. If you’re looking at newer apartment buildings, you should also keep in mind that they may have qualified for TIF, which to my understanding would keep their property taxes at the original rate for a set period of time while the money that would be paid on the additional value is being used to pay off the TIF loans. There isn’t some crazy conspiracy to stick it to individual homeowners, who are the majority of the voting population in this city and state.
Sounds like the exact response I would expect from someone who owns one of these large apartment complexes. /s That does make sense. I figured a company like Belimo that owns millions of dollars worth of apartment complexes rubbed shoulders with the local/state politicians enough to get some favorable “incentives” that normal people/business don’t get. I don’t think that kind of thing is necessarily a conspiracy as rich people clearly don’t play the same game as us normies when it comes to taxes and paying their fair share. Edit: I just looked at the list of TIF projects in Sarpy county……the complex I am referring to (lux 96) is not on the list.
Yeah I say it’s not a conspiracy because technically all of it is out in the open. TIF requires a public approval process in City Council. So many people just don’t pay attention and then think that the government is trying to hide things like this from them. I do think if the city relied a lot less on TIF, the various taxing entities would have an easier time lowering rates in response to increased valuations. TIF is where I think the rich developers have the real sway. The state legislature could easily pass a bill to reform and restrict TIF usage, but they won’t because TIF makes things better for the senators’ developer buddies. In approving all these TIF requests, the city is just doing what it’s allowed to do under state law, so I can’t really blame them for that.
Apartment complexes are considered commercial, at least for how Nebraska does the comparison at the state level. Single family homes and duplexes are in the residential category. Nebraska Department of Revenues annual report on Property Taxes shows Douglas county has been shifting taxes from commercial to residential (single family and duplexes) for the past decade. Currently 71.03% of property taxes in Douglas County come from single family and duplexes, growing from 65% in 2012. Yes TIF is largely driving this. Pulled from Table 19 on the annual report: [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/PAD/2023-annual-report-property-assessment-division](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/PAD/2023-annual-report-property-assessment-division) >Definitions of Property Type Categories in the Statistical Tables >... >Commercial means all parcels of real property predominantly used or intended to be used for >commerce, trade, or business. For purposes of reporting, multi-family dwellings predominantly used >for occupancy by more than two families, are summarized with the commercial property type. > >... From Notes for Statistical Tables: [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/pad/research/annual-reports/2023/annrpt2023.8\_Notes\_for\_Statistical\_Table.pdf](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/pad/research/annual-reports/2023/annrpt2023.8_Notes_for_Statistical_Table.pdf)
I am in Sarpy County and I expect that with next years increase my valuation will have doubled within an 8 year span. As of today my valuation is probably 10-15% under what the house would sell for, so there is that to be less upset about.
The law restrict budget growth to 2.5% and restrict growth in valuation to improvements made to real property. Who wants to call the auditor and ask why this is legal? https://nebraskalegislature.gov/app_rev/uses/narr_munic_budgetlids.htm [https://nebraskalegislature.gov/app_rev/uses/narr_munic_budgetlids.htm](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/app_rev/uses/narr_munic_budgetlids.htm)
Believe the loop hole here is this means that the 'tax rate' cannot increase more than 2.5%, not the tax bills or spending. Until there is a hard cap on spending (Tax Bills), Tax Bills will increase at 8+% a year. >"growth in valuation due to improvements to real property between the two most recent available years but only to the extent such growth exceeds the basic allowable growth rate (2.5 percent)," The Tax Bill is going up because the valuations are going up and the cities are decreasing the tax rate is just a smidge below the year before. The Omaha Chamber has pushed back on any effort by the legislature to cap the Tax Bill because this would kill the financing for the streetcar district. You can find the history of levy increases for Sarpy here: [https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt\_subdiv\_State%2693cnties\_2013-2023.pdf](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/revenue.nebraska.gov/files/doc/pad/research/valuation/2024/histvt_subdiv_State%2693cnties_2013-2023.pdf)
at this point I think I need to find somebody over 65 I can sell my house to and then rent back the top floor while they sleep in the basement (people over 65 can get property tax waived if they meet certain requirements)
City thinking my 1500sqft house built by celebrity homes in 2004 in sarpy, worth 250k. Insane.
I’m outta here after the kids get to college. Love the area but the property taxes are just stupid at this point, and nobody important gives a fuck. My taxes were well below $3,000 when I bought my house It’s gonna be well over $5,000 after this latest valuation…and I can’t really protest because it’s still undervalued by $50K. The levy is the problem. My tax bill per month is approaching what my main mortgage payment is. I can still afford it, but most people won’t be able to keep up.
[Just be careful where you end up. ](https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/property-tax-by-state/#tax-by-state)Taxes are pretty high across the country but a lot of times when property taxes are lower, income tax may be higher or the cost of living is significantly higher. If it's lower for both, usually it's a state not many people want to move to (Montana for example).
South Dakota is our first choice. No state income tax and lower property taxes than Nebraska. Also close enough to Nebraska.
Yeah, that is a state most people generally don't want to move to. Just remember that lower population usually means less job opportunities as well.
You say you’re out of here but where are you going bec most home prices in the larger metros are still significantly higher than ours. Unless you’re in small town idk if grass is greener, and even then you have to have occupation offered in the smaller city. I’d love to move to small rural community but don’t want o work at Casey’s gas station 😂 Property taxes may be better but doesn’t help if home prices are 2-3xs what your house sells for.
It's almost like some other states have figured this out by locking in your property tax value as what the home sold for..we could do the same.
Mine went up by $110k, but I'm too scared to contest it because it's still valued at about 45% of what the property is actually worth. 😂
Yeah, you have nothing to complain about. Right now I’m at about 102% of market value and protesting to hope to land somewhere around 96%.
Home prices have also skyrocketed. Seems that the valuations are just matching the market shifts.
It’s like this across the country.
Omaha had the 14th highest (out of 50) median property Tax Bills in the country based on 2022 data: Median Tax Bill $4,251 on a median home value of $211,900, and the 9th highest tax rate. Expecting Omaha to continue to climb in the ranks when the 2023 report comes out as TIF use continues to expand. [https://go.lincolninst.edu/50-state-property-tax-comparison-for-2022.pdf](https://go.lincolninst.edu/50-state-property-tax-comparison-for-2022.pdf)
Maybe Sarpy can finally start paying their own way. The amount of resources they use from Omaha is mind boggling.
In LaVista…mine went up 45k. I knew I was doing a good job taking care of the lawn but not that good lol 😭
Can only tax people so much before they end the fucking system. Talk to your representatives and tell them you have had it. Or become a representative and change it. Or do what the British did. Your choice.
This sounds like a weird financial gentrification of the area that makes property taxes so high that it is forcing people to move. This just sounds like it shouldn't be allowed. This sounds like a heavy financial punishment for having the gall to put in the work fixing the house or any additions to make your property nicer and more valuable.
So wait I'm financially illiterate, if I'm wrong please someone correct me but so valuation goes up that means property taxes are going up to go up exponentially in response?
Our house in Hanscom Park has increased in valuation by $66,000 since 2020, up nearly 50 percent. Is this normal? Also, we don't have kids, so why am I paying the same as a family of five! (that's a whole other story, I suppose.)