County Will See Lower Tax Valuations

A recommendation by the Cheyenne County Assessor's Office to lower the percentages on which property tax values are based has been approved by the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission.

Last month the Cheyenne County Assessor's Office made its recommendation to the Department of Revenue to lower the percentages on a number of property types. With the Department of Revenue's approval, the matter needed final approval from the Tax Equalization and Review Commission.

Properties taxes are first based on their market value, with tax assessment based from 92-100 percent for residential properties, and from 69-75 percent for agricultural land. Cheyenne County's recommendation was that county properties be taxed at 92 percent of value for residential and 71 percent for agricultural land. From there, tax-supported entities establish their budgets, and mill levies are used to formulate each property's tax bill.

The result of the new measure will be a drop of an estimated 10-14 percent in the city of Sidney, 9 percent in villages and small towns, with rural residence tax value figured at 5 percent less.

Agricultural tax value could drop from 12-20 percent, depending on location.