Taxes, government services hot topics at legislative luncheon

The perennial issues of taxes and government services highlighted discussion at a legislative luncheon Friday at Valentino’s restaurant in Beatrice.

“We can’t just say we’re going to cut taxes and spending,” Beatrice City Councilman Al Fetty, one of the panelists at the luncheon, told the approximately 40 people attending the event, sponsored by the Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee.

“We can’t do that and still do the services people expect us to provide.”

Attending the luncheon were Gov. Dave Heineman; state Sen. Norm Wallman; Angel Velitchkov, a representative of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb; Fetty, Mayor Dennis Schuster and City Administrator Neil Niedfeldt representing the city of Beatrice; Gage County Supervisor Allen Grell; and Beatrice school board member Don Harmon.

Heineman said he was proud of the past legislative session, which he said resulted in decreased spending, no tax increases and a cut in corporate income taxes, while at the same time keeping what he called a “robust (cash) reserve.”

He also said he would continue to focus on education and job creation.

“We want to give our kids the very best education possible and have the kind of jobs that will keep them in the state,” he said.

In addition, he said he thought Nebraska was fortunate in not having to deal with the recession as much as many other states.

“At the moment we’re in pretty good shape, but we need to keep a watchful eye out,” he said.

Velitchkov said Fortenberry supported the farm bill passed in the Senate this week and said Fortenberry had supported initiatives included in the bill to promote rural energy self sufficiency, encourage local governments and school systems to purchase products from local farmers and create new marketing strategies for farm products.

In his comments, Wallman said he continued to support ethanol and biofuels development despite recent negative publicity linking ethanol production to higher food prices.

“I remain very pro-ethanol,” he said. “We’re getting a bad rap from the national media. Higher oil and transportation costs are running food prices higher.”

Grell focused on economic development, particularly what he sees as the need for the county and city to work together and for better communication between different entities involved with Gage County Economic Development.

“It’s everybody’s responsibility in the community to make it happen,” he said.”

He also said the county faces challenges in the need for a new jail and improved roads.

“Roads are the heart of economic development,” he said.

Schuster said the city has been moving forward over the last six months despite a number of retirements. In half of those cases, he said, the city has opted to not fill the vacant positions in an effort to economize and streamline operations.

Fetty said the city also faced the need for improved roads and an unfunded mandate from the federal government under the Clean Water Act for stormwater drainage improvements.

“We have no method to pay for it,” he said about the stormwater mandate. “To pay for it, we would have to raise property taxes by 50 percent, but I don’t hear anyone saying raise their taxes by 50 percent.”

Niedfeldt said the city was still looking for funding to meet its stormwater drainage requirements.

“We need to have that done somewhere down the road,” he said.

Harmon said while school is out for summer in Beatrice, the Beatrice school board was planning to discuss goals for itself and the district as a whole.

“While school is out for the summer, the work for the Board of Education will continue,” he said.

In separate comments, Heineman said he visited Beatrice State Developmental Center about 10 days ago and was impressed by progress there.

He said while more residents are becoming part of community-based programs, he said there was still a great need for BSDC. He said BSDC officials hope to have the number of clients reduced to 255 by the end of June and 200 by the end of the year.

If that trend continues, he said mandatory overtime could be reduced and current staffing levels can be maintained.