Commissioners discuss threats to inheritance tax

McCOOK, Neb. — A bill that could do away with an important source of revenue for Red Willow County is unlikely to make it out of committee this year, a representative of the Nebraska Association of County Officials told commissioners Monday.

The county often helps balance its annual budget using funds transferred from the inheritance tax fund, this year a half-million dollars if needed.

However, a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston would give voters a chance to end counties’ abilities to collect that tax. Elaine Menzel of NACO said that measure was unlikely to make it out of committee.

Last year, the Legislature passed a bill that cut inheritance tax rates on beneficiaries and increased the amount of property value that is exempt from the tax for estates of people who died after Jan. 1, 2023.

Menzel said opponents of eliminating inheritance taxes can make the point that it will hurt counties’ ability to provide basic services. Commissioner Randy Dean agreed, saying it would simply place more of the burden on property taxes.

Ending inheritance taxes is also part of LB79, introduced by Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, which would replace property, income and corporate taxes with a consumption tax, but that bill faces even longer odds.

Menzel had higher hopes for a measure to reimburse counties for state-imposed unfunded mandates.

Commissioners also reviewed a letter from County Attorney Paul Wood, which indicated lease agreements should be considered subject to the county purchasing act, which requires competitive bidding. At issue were skid-loader leases for the Red Willow County Fairgrounds. Manager Jiles Bowman said the county pays $4,500 to use new machines for 250 hours, after which the machines are returned to the dealer for resale and replaced with new machines.

In the future, the lease agreements will be brought to the county board for approval.

Tasha Wulf and Brandi Hilton-Hagemann of the county extension board delivered an annual report on their activities. They noted that the office is in the process of hiring an agronomist, who can qualify with a bachelor’s degree, rather than the previous requirement of a master’s degree.

They said many services were provided through interlocal agreements with other extension services, with one example being a beef specialist located in another adjoining county.