Bill
LB 692
LB 692 changes how districts calculate property tax request authority, limits carry-forward increases tied to base growth, and clarifies unused authority can be saved for future ye
LB 692 — Summary
Overview
- Purpose: LB 692 amends the School District Property Tax Limitation Act to modify how a school district’s property tax request authority is calculated and to clarify the treatment of unused (carry-forward) authority. The introduced bill emphasizes preventing the use of carry-forward to expand a district’s base growth beyond a specified growth limit (the bill’s intent statement references a 3% base growth cap excluding certain factors).
- Primary sponsor: Senator Dave Murman
- Committee: Revenue
- Introduced: January 22, 2025
- Hearing: Notice issued for February 13, 2025
What the bill would change (Key provisions)
1) Calculation of property tax request authority (amends 79-3403)
- A school district’s annual property tax request may not exceed its calculated property tax request authority.
- Calculation steps (simplified):
- Start with the district’s prior-year property tax request.
- Subtract any amount by which the prior-year request exceeded the district’s authority (if that occurred).
- Add the prior-year non-property-tax revenue, minus any investment income from special building funds.
- Increase by the district’s base growth percentage.
- Subtract total current-year non-property-tax revenue, and adjust for known/documented errors in district documentation.
- For any category of non-property-tax revenue with insufficient data as of June 1, treat it as the prior year’s amount.
- Certification: The department would certify the calculated amount as the district’s property tax request authority.
2) Carry-forward of unused authority (amends 79-3406)
- A district may opt not to increase its property tax request by the full amount allowed by its authority in a given year.
- Unused authority may be carried forward to future years, but not including increases to authority that arise from increases in the base growth percentage.
- The department would calculate unused authority and provide an accounting to the district’s school board. The carried-forward amount may be used later to increase the district’s property tax request.
3) Repeal and replacement
- The original sections 79-3403 and 79-3406 would be repealed and replaced with amended language.
Who is affected
- Affected entities: Nebraska school districts, the Nebraska Department of Revenue, district school boards, and taxpayers within districts.
- Practical impact: Districts would have a revised framework for determining annual tax request authority and a clarified mechanism for carrying forward unused authority, with explicit caveats related to base growth increases.
Procedural and timeline notes
- Introduction and actions:
- Introduced: January 22, 2025
- Referred to: Revenue Committee (January 24, 2025)
- Notice of hearing: February 5, 2025
- Hearing: February 13, 2025
Notes for readers
- The bill text references a “base growth percentage” and a 3% growth concept in its intent statement. The specific statutory cap and calculations hinge on how “base growth” is defined in the broader act (e.g., potential 3% cap excluding certain growth factors). Readers should review the committee hearing materials and the base-growth provisions (and any related sections like 79-3405) for precise figures and implementation details.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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