LINCOLN -- The president of the state's largest agriculture group this
morning accused a past ally, Gov. Dave Heineman, of reneging on his
promise of "no new taxes" to help solve the state's budget crisis.
Keith Olsen, a Grant, Neb., farmer and president of the Nebraska Farm
Bureau, told state lawmakers this morning that the governor's plan to take away about $750,000 in commodity checkoff funds paid by farmers to help solve the state's budget woes amounted to a tax hike on agriculture.
"To me, that's new money going into the general fund. To me, that's a
tax," said Olsen, in comments after testifying to the Legislature's
Appropriations Committee.
Olsen also said that he expects that farmers will be paying higher local property taxes as a result of the governor's plans to cut state spending.
The committee is collecting testimony from state agencies and other
representatives on the governor's proposed budget cuts to handle the
state's predicted $334 million shortfall in tax revenue.
Among the cuts proposed by Heineman is utilizing checkoff fees paid by farmers on sales of corn, wheat, sorghum and other commodities. Such funds are used to promote the sale of such products and do research.
The governor's spokeswoman, Jen Rae Hein, said that Heineman has "been clear" that he doesn't support tax increases. "We would disagree that shared sacrifice from the commodity boards is a tax increase," she said.
As for a property tax increase, the governor's top budget officer, Gerry Oligmueller, to the Appropriations Committee on Friday that local schools should have the excess funds to handle the governor's proposed cuts in state aid without increasing property taxes.
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