On Jan. 14, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts said in his State of the State Address that he hopes to ensure that local governments do not increase property taxes by over 3% every year. While low taxes have many great benefits for homeowners, this decrease in property taxes could cause problems for many Nebraska school districts, including Westside. According to Superintendent Mike Lucas, Nebraska ranks 49th in the nation for the percentage of the state budget that is allocated towards public education. This means most Nebraska schools receive the majority of their funding from local property taxes. 

“The national average for [the] percentage of funding for schools that comes from local property taxes is 29%,” Lucas said. “In Nebraska, the percentage of our revenue that comes from local property taxes is somewhere between 52% and 54%, depending on the year. So, Nebraska is almost twice the national average. [At] Westside, we receive over 60% of our funding from local property taxes.”

According to Lucas, some people believe that Westside property taxes are high because the district is spending too much money. Lucas said this is not the case, however.

“Over the last eight years, Westside has [had] an average annual spending increase of just over 2%, but our property taxes have gone up well over 2% per year because there is no other big revenue stream,” Lucas said. “If property taxes are capped or if property taxes are restricted at the state level, that’s going to negatively impact school funding, not only for Westside, but for almost all districts.”

School Board President Kris Karnes said that she agrees that Westside does not have a spending problem. She said that the Board of Education has been working for the past two years to lower Westside’s tax levy and has made difficult budget cuts in the past as well. Karnes also said that if property taxes were lowered, drastic budget cuts would have to be made.

“It’s important to note that what [Governor Pete Ricketts] is talking about is a cutting of property taxes, and, consequently, revenue to public schools, likely without a corresponding increase in state aid to make up for that loss of money,” Karnes said. “If this happens, we would have to make major budget cuts to programming, curriculum, staff and activities.” 

Karnes said that in the future, the Westside community must continue to advocate for proper school funding, and that community members are welcome to attend school board meetings to keep up to date on the Westside budget.

“We discuss the status of any proposed legislation frequently at our Board of Education meetings, so that is a good way to keep up to speed regarding how Westside would be impacted and how and when we need folks to help us get our message out,” Karnes said.

Lucas said that citizens connected to public schools throughout Nebraska should speak up about the dangers of a lower property tax. 

“It’s going to come down to school board members, superintendents, parents and community members just staying abreast of the issues and contacting state senators and making sure they understand how the funding system really works and that it’s not a spending issue that we have, it’s really a revenue issue that we have,” Lucas said.