Dorchester Times: Saline Co. Sees 8.3% Property Tax Hike In One Year: Report

Friday, January 17, 2014

Saline Co. Sees 8.3% Property Tax Hike In One Year: Report

Today, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman issued a statement on the local property tax increases experienced in most of Nebraska's 93 counties. The Nebraska Department of Revenue reports that when combining data from all Nebraska counties, total property taxes statewide increased 5.22% from 2012 to 2013.

In Saline County, our property taxes increased 8.28% from 2012 to 2013. That's 37th highest out of Nebraska's 93 counties. During that same time span, Saline County saw a 10% increase in the percentage of total property value -- so at least property taxes didn't soar beyond the 10% mark, as they did in 25 other Nebraska counties.

Before you contact your state senator, remember: In Nebraska, property tax rates are set by local governments. Property taxes pay for schools (about 70% of your property tax dollar goes to the school district); county government; city government; community colleges; NRDs; and other local government bodies. Even the county historical society gets a share.

Here's what the governor said:

"The latest property tax report shows property taxes are increasing because local government spending is increasing too rapidly. The Department of Revenue property tax report indicates property taxes increased by more than 5% in 70 counties. ... As I said in my State of the State address, we need our partners in local government to slow the rate of growth in local spending to achieve real property tax relief."

See the full report of county property tax increases here.

5 comments:

David the BohunkJanuary 17, 2014 at 4:11 PM
A tax increase ain't news.

So, what else is new?
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David the BohunkJanuary 17, 2014 at 11:00 PM
California tax rate is 1% of assessed property value based on Prop 13. However, add-ons, passed by the politicans, add to that amount. Percentage is about 1.4% and climbing.

Apartment buildings, (and there are many, many of them here) are taxed at a much higher rate.

Also, remember property is very expensive here so the 'assessed value' is sometimes outrageous in that you cannot buy a liveable house for less than $150,000.

California budget next year is $92.1 BILLION dollars.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."