Dorchester Times: Study: Crete Has Highest Property Taxes In Statewide Comparison

Monday, February 24, 2014

Study: Crete Has Highest Property Taxes In Statewide Comparison

A new study comparing property taxes paid in Nebraska's 30 largest cities confirms that Crete property owners pay more in taxes than in any other sizable city in Nebraska. In some cases, much more.

Last fall, voters in the Crete School District narrowly passed a $33 million bond referendum by mail-in vote. The $33 million in new debt and spending is being used to complete Crete Schools "most comprehensive overhaul" in district history.

The debate over the Crete Schools bond issue was very emotional, with supporters prevailing by only a handful of votes.

Now an annual comparison of property taxes paid in 30 of Nebraska's largest communities -- other than Omaha and Lincoln -- has been released. The study, conducted by the City of Norfolk, looked at total property taxes paid on a $100,000 house. The range is from York, the lowest at $1,759, to Crete, the highest at $2,411.

If that doesn't sound like much difference, think of it this way: Over ten years, a homeowner would pay $6,520 more on the exact same $100,000 house if it were in Crete instead of York. Over 40 years, the difference would be more than $26,000. Over 50 years, it would be nearly $33,000.

Among school districts, the lowest levy is Chadron’s $1.05 and highest is Crete’s $1.34, according to the study. (In the Dorchester School District, the levy is $1.11, according to our check last fall. Friend is $1.28. Wilber is $1.12. Milford is $1.04. Exeter-Milligan is $0.96, the lowest of the levies in the Times' local comparison. Here in Nebraska, about 70 cents of your property tax dollar goes to your school district, in most cases.)

Once again, it has been proved that elections have consequences.

3 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 25, 2014 at 10:37 AM
Good report and factual information.

I wonder if the person who criticized this blog for being too Dorchester-centric a few stories down feels better now. Ha!
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cynical richardFebruary 25, 2014 at 11:45 PM
............ sick and wrong............................... you taxers and spenders must sit around all day and think of ways to steal other peoples money ..................... worst part is you think youre gonna get to heaven on another mans dime ............................. i have news for you ........................................ heaven aint where you going ................................ in fact i have just one message for all of you who want to tax the working man and contributing man to death ................................................. here it is..................
╭∩╮（︶︿︶）╭∩╮
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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."