Hall County taxpayers express frustration about rising valuations
About 55 people, unhappy with the rising valuations of their homes, attended a joint public hearing Wednesday night at the Hall County Board of Commissioners' meeting room.
Hosted by Hall County and the village of Wood River, the hearing was meant to obtain public input on property tax increases proposed by the subdivisions.
Seated behind the desk were Wood River Mayor Greg Cramer, county commissioners Ron Peterson and Scott Sorensen and Hall County Clerk Marla Conley.
Most of the speakers complained about the steadily increasing value of their property.
Many brought questions that they wanted answered. But rules set by the Legislature did not allow the officials to respond, which made some wonder why they bothered to attend.
Hall County Attorney Marty Klein and others advised the audience to attend a Board of Equalization meeting, held during normal County Commission meetings, or to speak at a public hearing at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24.
They also advised people to visit with the county assessor.
Sixteen people spoke at the hearing, which lasted an hour and five minutes.
A number of them brought their pink cards to the table as they spoke into the microphone. Those postcards, which were sent out recently, show the estimated change in people's property taxes.
Some speakers said they're being priced out of their own homes.
Others said rising taxes are forcing them to increase prices for their customers or rents for their tenants.
A couple of people placed the blame on tax increment financing .
Instead of adding on to the courthouse , two people said the county should use the old Principal building. They said that building is now used only for wrestling practice.
Some asked why the planned addition to the courthouse wasn't put to a public vote.
One man said in the last 10 years, new windows have been installed in the courthouse and HVAC improvements have been made. Now, he said, the county says it's outgrown the courthouse.
One woman, Sarah Nelson, was especially vocal. She accused county leaders of mismanagement and a lack of foresight. She told officials to "get it together" and act like they're part of a community.
Later, when Conley was speaking, Nelson said, "Ma'am, that's enough from you. Stop!"
Conley responded, "Excuse me?"
Before the input was taken, Cramer and Peterson provided budget information.
Peterson said "if you take all the levy from everything but the courthouse ... we reduced the levy by 5.4%."
For the 2024-25 budget, the county uses $819,000 in casino revenue , which reduced the levy for the courthouse bond, Peterson said. The county ultimately increased the total levy by $20.04 per $100,000 of valuation over the 2023-24 levy including the courthouse bond.
Political subdivisions must hold a joint public hearing only if they're making a property tax request exceeding their allowable growth percentage.
"Hall County's allowable growth is $956,161.20 but because of the courthouse bond we are increasing $2,373,297.98," Peterson said. "If we did not have the addition to the courthouse, we would be under the allowable growth figure by $700,871.11."
The sole reason for Wednesday's required public hearing "is the addition to the courthouse," he said.
Some of the speakers were angry.
Three years ago, Mark Mack bought a 10-acre plot of land near the airport for $70,000. It now has an estimated value of about $138,000. "It's a frickin' hayfield," he said of the property.
Linda Merrick said the value of her home has gone up 68% in five years. Merrick visited the Hall County Assessor's Office the next day. "It's kind of disheartening when you take care of your property, you take care of your house, and you get penalized for it," Merrick said in an interview Thursday.
Nadine Oakley, who lives in a 1994 modular home on an unfinished basement, said she can't afford to insure her house, because insurance rates go up along with the value of her property.
Oakley, who is disabled, says her income will go down substantially when her husband passes away, and she's worried. Officials should "look at the faces behind the property, not just the properties themselves," she said.
One woman said she has sewer line issues in her house, which gives her a serious health problem. One or two men expressed sympathy to the officials, saying they don't have an easy job to do.
Maurice Horak and others said casino revenue was supposed to lower property taxes.
"I think we were lied to," Horak said. As far as he's concerned, the casino might as well be leveled "because it's done nothing."
Nebraska casinos are taxed 20% of their annual revenue by the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission. The local counties and cities where horsetrack casinos are located each receive 12.5% of that amount. The state, meanwhile, gets 70% of tax revenue from all of the casinos in Nebraska.
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