A judge's ruling striking down the shared property tax system of the Learning Community continued to spread budget uncertainty Wednesday among Omaha-area school districts.
While officials in some of its 11 member districts began laying plans to rewrite their budgets to conform with the ruling, an attorney for the Learning Community has asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to act quickly to weigh in on the question of whether its system of common property tax levies is constitutional.
Kurth Brashear filed a motion asking the high court to expedite its consideration of the Learning Community's appeal of the Sept. 23 ruling that struck down its two common tax levies.
Brashear asked the court to move up its own deadlines so the case could be argued in early December and decided by January. Appeals typically can take six months or longer.
A ruling by January would give the Nebraska Legislature time to address the situation next session, if need be.
The Omaha Public Schools and Bellevue Public Schools joined in the motion, Brashear said.
As of Wednesday, the court had not yet acted on the Learning Community's request, filed Monday, which seeks a stay of the order from Sarpy County District Judge William Zastera.
Zastera ruled that the Learning Community's 95-cent general fund levy, which generates money for local school budgets, and the special building fund levy, set at zero this year, violate a Nebraska constitutional prohibition on levying property taxes for a state purpose. The levies' revenue is shared among 11 member school districts.
Several of the districts plan to redo their budgets to conform with the order. They have about three weeks to make changes to meet state deadlines for locking in property tax levies.
Unless the court issues a stay of Zastera's order, school officials say, they have no choice but to hold new budget hearings and adopt budgets that replace the Learning Community's 95-cent common levy with their own 95-cent levies.
Reopening the budgets could be complicated, however, because districts are also linked to one another through the distribution of state aid.
And some districts may not reopen their budgets, holding out hope that the high court will issue a stay to freeze the situation pending its final decision.
Mike Smith, deputy county attorney in Sarpy County, said state law allows districts to levy whatever the Learning Community does not, up to $1.05.
The invalidation of the Learning Community's common levies appears to clear the way for districts to impose their own levies to make up the difference.
Brashear, however, has questioned whether districts have the authority to return to the old system of levying and keeping their own property taxes without clear direction from state lawmakers.
Furthermore, he and OPS attorneys have said the Nebraska Supreme Court has the final word on whether a state law is unconstitutional.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com
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