County taxes too high

The actual levy for county, school and college property tax in Red Willow is lower than the average in Nebraska. The problem is that the land is being bought at a high price....and sold later at an even higher price. Property tax is not a state problem but a problem of the local taxing sources and by the fact of buyers and sellers of Ag land paying high prices.

If its any consolation, once you die they will take half of what you left behind. Its a small price to pay for the privilege of living in such an advanced society.

As Dennis suggested, the alternative is to not buy anything or work for a living. Then you can just be a government dependent like he is.

Shallal, you are correct that the estate tax is greatly unfair. Nebraska has one of the highest rates in the nation. Please note that I did NOT say to stop making purchases or not to work. Shifting the topic to personal attacks instead of pointing out any errors in the original post really does nothing to advance the issue. Happy to engage in an issue oriented discussion but not unfounded personal attacks on others.

Dennis, you specifically said " The problem is that the land is being bought at a high price....and sold later at an even higher price."

How is the free market establishing value a problem?

Mr. Wesch has every right to complain about the rate at which his valuable land is being taxed. Obviously his arguments are seriously flawed as no farmer attempts to sell their products at the lowest possible market prices which he uses to produce his statistics. Despite this, many farmers are struggling to pay their bills during this cycle of low prices. Up and down cycles are necessary for a free market to function and I see nothing wrong with asking government to tighten its belt as every other person living in the real world must do during periods of economic decline.

I will have to say, the property values are exaggerated. I don't know about equitable farm and pasture land values, but the value of my home within the city limits increased $24,000.00 in one bound, then increased an additional $2,000.00 the next year. Now I'm all about having an expensive house, but believe me, the only one that will buy my house for its county assessed value is someone coming from the coast and doesn't know the value of a dollar in Southwest Nebraska.

Like I said, I like the prospect of living in an expensive home, unfortunately, along with my increased value, I was informed that my home was of average quality.... so I really don't have a "nice" home, just an expensive one.

It may be coincidence, but it almost seems like the value of my home has been increased by the presence of a new jail. Perhaps the jail created a more desirable neighborhood for me.

Nick Mercy

It is not the valuations that are the issue. It is the tax levieing authorities. Their budgets can increase without them having to do anything. The value of your property can be 10 times the current value and as long as the taxing authorities (school, county, etc.) decrease their levy by a factor of 10, all will remain the same. That said the current system is unfair to the extreme. A very small segment of th population, with a very small profit margin is hit the hardest. The problem is the current system puts the tax burden on only those who own property. if you choose to rent it really doesn't affect you that much. Sure property owners can raise their rents to pay for the increased burden. But in agriculture you cannot do this due to pricing yourself out of the market. A fairer system should be created. Whether that be cash rent based, sales tax based, or income tax based is the debate.