LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Three elected officials in the Lincoln area are receiving substantial property tax breaks on their homes through Nebraska’s homestead exemption program.
Lancaster County Commissioner Larry Hudkins received a homestead exemption for a portion of his home and saved more than $2,700 this year under the program, which is primarily intended to help low-income seniors, the Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/2eaELe8 ) reported.
Lincoln City Councilman Jon Camp and Southeast Community College board member Bob Feit each have homestead exemptions covering their entire home values under a new exemption for veterans with 100 percent service-connected disability. Camp saved nearly $5,500, while Feit saved more than $5,100 in property taxes using that program.
Camp was a cadet in the Air Force Academy in 1968, when his service was cut short by a car accident that killed his parents. Camp now earns $24,000 as a part-time council member and pays taxes on the property he owns.
“The citizens of Nebraska, through their legislative representatives, are to be commended for recognizing the service of veterans who have sustained life-altering injuries by enacting the veterans’ exemption,” Camp wrote in an email response about his exemption.
Feit said he has been rated as a 100 percent disabled veteran by the Veterans Administration, due to serving in the military in southeast Asia in the 1960s. A disabled veteran’s status must be verified by the VA in order to qualify for the state’s exemption program.
Hudkins, who will earn more than $42,000 this year as county commissioner, reported an income of less than $32,000 for 2014 for himself and his wife to meet the exemption income guidelines. Hudkins said the low income report was based on farm losses and high medical expenses for him and his wife.
The exemption reduced his property taxes for more than $2,000. Hudkins paid more than $3,000 on the remaining property taxes of his home.
As elected officials, the three men make decisions affecting the local property tax rate in Lancaster County. Hudkins’ and Camp’s salaries are also funded by local property tax revenue.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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