2010 Property Tax Per Capita Comparison

Nebraska's Best and Worst Cities for Property Tax Collections

by Berk Brown, Platte Institute

Last week we continued the discussion on Nebraska's excessive property tax burden when compared to the value of our homes. From this perspective, Nebraskans have the third-highest burden in the nation.

In Nebraska, property taxes are collected at the local level. As a result, local government entities control exactly how much taxpayers pay for the privilege of owning their own homes.

As Thomas Jefferson once said, "The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors." Yet, a quick glance at how much cities in Nebraska collect in property taxes from their residents clearly shows that some communities feel like their residents should pay much more for that safety and happiness than other communities do.

The following data is reflective of only the property taxes collected by the city government. Total property tax bills in each community also include other taxing authorities, but for this collection of data, only the money which goes directly to the city was used. We took a look at all 54 Nebraska cities with populations of at least 2,000 to determine which cities require the least contributions from tax payers to provide services and which are getting the most in revenue from their citizens on a per-capita basis.

According to the rankings, if you truly want to experience Nebraska's "Good Life," in the form of less property taxes on a per-capita basis, then you need to live in the central or northeast portion of the state.

Below is a complete ranking of all 54 cities in Nebraska with a population of 2,000 or greater of the property tax rate per capita: