Governor Ricketts will discuss failures, vaccines and taxes on Wednesday morning
Updated: 11:11 am CST February 17, 2021
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Go to the store, often wash your hands for 20 seconds at a time, please. And again, one of the most important things to do is make sure you stay home if you have the fever, coughing, or if you've lost your sense of taste or smell so you don't spread the virus. Of course we would like you to get tested to be sure. But I know Nebraskans like to go through when they get sick, but this is not the time to do so. So please do that. And of course you can use the Nebraska test to get tested. I was actually tested on Sunday and got my test results back in less than eight hours. So we usually get them back in 24 to 48 hours. I think in the last seven or 14 days we did it in about 14 hours. So we get these test results back very quickly. Please log in and test out Nebraska dot com to help. We have thus returned C 676,000 test results. So a lot of test results that come back from the Nebraska dot com test and avoid the three Cs again. These crowded places. Close contact. Narrow places. These are places where the virus is more likely to spread. So continue to avoid them. Of course, all of this is about making sure that we maintain our hospital capacity. We are currently at 100,585 admissions. Uh, we have 137% of our hospital beds available, 39% of our I C U beds are available, and 79% of our ventilators. So we have robust hospital capacity and we are now at a stage where we have a hospital bed. These 185 are approximately 4.5% of our total hospital beds. It's a phase we'll be back in September. Good news there are still using these tools to slow the spread of the virus and keep our hospital capacity going. Of course, one of the things we're going through right now is extreme cold. We want people to take precautions to ensure that, like you know, you put the correct safety supplies in your car when you want to be driving around your house. We talked about this well last week, and one of the things we've seen with this cold is the rolling blackouts. First of all, I'd like to thank all of our utilities and utilities who have worked in the factories to keep power generation going in our linemen who are working to keep that power generation going. Lots of people work around the clock to do that. Um, the utilities like NPP D and O P. P. D. and L. D s asked all of the people to turn down their thermostats. We value people who make these sacrifices. However, these rolling power outages are completely unacceptable. This is the United States of America. We are not a developing nation that has an unreliable power grid here. We have to talk about the power sources that power our grid in this country because we can't have these rolling blackouts at a time when we're in these freezing temperatures. So I'm going to work with senators and other governors who are talking to leaders of power about how we're moving to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future. However, I assume that we have a high level of reliability with things like coal and nuclear power. In fact, Gerald are gentlemen, plant, I think, provides over 50% of our states energy in fact, up to 57%. And that is a source that is not intermittent. And you can store the energy on site. The same goes for nuclear power. We have other sources, like wind power, the air intermittently, and you can't store natural gas where you can't store it. One of the things that we experienced in this cold weather is the freezing of those natural gas pipelines? Apparently we need to have better infrastructure for that. And if we depend too much on these sources, we'll see these kinds of rolling blackouts. And you can imagine these situations get even worse when radical environmentalists find their way through the clean electricity plan or the green New Deal. We need to talk about our energy mix in this country to make sure we continue to have a reliable source of energy like coal or nuclear to make sure it doesn't happen again. It is totally unacceptable that we have to endure these rolling power outages, especially at a time when it is so cold. So that's what we'll continue to focus on. And I'll be working with people to make sure we start these conversations where we can address this issue in terms of our power, the right balance of power, and how we can make sure it doesn't happen again in the future. Second, I want to look at vaccines. We'll have a press conference tomorrow. We'll get into that in more detail. We've delivered 303,000 vaccines here in Nebraska, and I just want to talk a little bit about Phase One B and make it clear what we're doing there. As I mentioned in Phase One B last week, we set priorities. I asked the health departments to focus 90% of their efforts on this. The people were 65 and older. The reason we do this is because 83% of the deaths we've had in the state are from people who are 65 years of age or older. If you cut it down to 55 years and older, that's 94% of all our deaths. Age was the biggest factor we see in the Nebraska data. These Nebraska data relates to who is most at risk of dying if you contract coronavirus. And that's why we've asked health directors across the state to really focus on this category. Now we've given them some leeway that 10% don't want to go through because the teachers are in that category of the first level, this top level. However, we have other groups that are prioritized because they relate to public safety. So if you look at public safety and this is it again, we have directed public health directors to focus on that. Thus 10% focused on the public safety aspects. That again means that first responders and law enforcement, our front-runners in this public safety category, ensure that the people who protect us come first. We also have critical utility workers, this critical infrastructure. Workers who help us keep the heat going. And surely during this cold snapshot we can all see why this matters. This is a public safety issue. In there, too, the employees are in shelters for the homeless and away again, above all we have again. This cold weather really shows when we are having such very cold weather. We cannot close down the homeless shelters because these people have no place to go and so they would be a great risk. And again this is a public safety issue not to allow these shelters to be open and have a place for people. So this is a public safety issue. And finally, in that category in phase one B, which gives priority to public safety, is our correctional staff, or so the staff of prisons and prisons. Again, it's a public safety issue. We need to keep the staff in these facilities so that the inmates can be looked after and they are not at risk of staff shortages. That's why it's a priority there too. These were public safety issues making sure we keep our corrections and prison staff as part of that prioritization and put ourselves in one of those top groups. So these are the people who are given priority for public safety reasons why they are in phase one, right behind when it comes to 65 year old 75 year old. And those were the first people to do it in that 10% category. And this is how, for example, Dr. Rati Poor and Douglas County spot on. It does exactly what it is supposed to do to prioritize things that previously had to do with public safety. This is part of their 10% allocation that doesn't focus on those 65 or above. So I just want to make it clear that poor Douglas County doctor is doing just the right thing. All right, property tax comes next. Last year passed the legislature. I signed L B 11 07. This is a huge step forward in property tax relief. It will provide $ 375 million in additional tax relief when fully deployed, as well as codifying the $ 275 million we have in the property tax credit fund and in my budget proposal this year. If you do all of the things I suggested to my budget, we can actually provide $ 1.36 billion in real estate tax relief in the coming period with the Property Tax Credit Relief Fund, LB 11 07 and Homestead Exemption Program 07 works that you receive a refundable income tax credit based on the property taxes you pay in schools. And that's part of the program we want to talk about today. And so, our Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton, also our Property Tax Administrator Ruth Sorensen, is here to describe a tool we have in the state of Nebraska to help you determine how much that credit will be for you so that you can Claim credit on your income taxes. So this will again be a refundable tax credit, which means we'll give you a check for that difference even if you don't pay Nebraska state income tax. So if you don't owe any income taxes. We will write a check for this refundable property tax credit. So again, ah ah, this is a great way that we can continue to help ease the land tax burden here in the state. It's a great program. 11/07 And so we have our Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton who comes over and talks a little more about it. So, Tony, I'll let you come and I think we're Ryan. You will be able to demonstrate the tool here. OK. Very good. Thank you Governor. Hello, Nebraska. We have some good news to report. It's always nice, and thanks to the work of Governor Ricketts and the Legislature, it's the first time you can apply for a refundable tax credit for some of the school district taxes you've paid. And it is the governor stressed a refundable credit. This means that even if your state income tax liability is zero, you will receive the remainder of the loan as a refund as a refund from the state. But you have to claim it. It is this time of year that we must file our income taxes, and we encourage Nebraskans to use our Nebraska school district property tax. Look for the tool again, as the governor pointed out. Use this tool to determine exactly how much credit you owe based on the property taxes you paid and the school property taxes you paid, key point. And the reason why we want to highlight this focus in this press conference. If you make a claim or make a credit that you are legally entitled to, or if you make an amount other than the claim, your refund may be delayed. We don't want that. So please use our lookup tool to make sure this doesn't happen. This will ensure that your refund is made in a timely and inefficient manner. Nebraskans can access this tool on our website, and that website is sales dot nebraska dot gov. We featured the tool prominently on our website. Again it is Sales Point Nebraska Point Government. I will hand this over to our Property Tax Administrator, Ruth Sorenson, who will give you a brief demonstration of this reference tool. Truth. Very good. Thank you Governor. Thank you, Tax Commissioner. A pleasure to be here as this is a very important search tool for any Nebraska state property owner who owns property. Real estate, of course. On the screen to my left is the Nebraska Department of the Treasury website. And when you go to the site, you can find it under the features listed on the main page. If we go through the main page, you'll find the reference tool that is demonstrated here. So we're starting with a lookup tool that will once again help taxpayers understand what their allowable school district taxes are on their packages for the 2020 tax year. It's important that taxpayers understand that this is for property on Lee and that it is for, um, what we call qualified school district taxes. Therefore, this amount may not match the tax return you received from your district treasury. The owner first selects the district in which the property is located. In this case we are using Lancaster County. To the right of the part number is a field in which the next field must be completed. And if you don't know your partial idea, if you don't have your real-life attacks, we strongly recommend that you use this for your partial idea. Some counties call it a personal number. There to the right of the field is the search tool with which all websites for all counties, all 93 counties, are called up. You will find that some of them have a statement that says you need to use a leading zero. And that's because of a provider problem that we have with some websites, not all, but only in some counties. The other thing that is important to know is that the data we use for this look of the tool has been collected and compiled from all 93 county treasures or their providers. We took all of this data and put it together to calculate the loan amount are taxpayers. When we go back I have selected a part ID to use and so we already know our part ideas so I don't have to go to this website. So we will enter the package, I would and the tax there will be in 2019. Then we'll meet next. And then we want to double-check that information to make sure we actually entered the correct package number. Now we know it's right. So we hit the next button and then here on the screen. You will be asked if you have sold your property. So if you sold your property during the year, you will receive the partial credit and the new owner will receive the other partial credit. So this is where you would come in. Yes. If you've sold, please enter the date of sale. In this case, however, it was not properly sold. So we're going to use that. We'll answer no to both of these questions and click next and here. Now you can scroll down and see what school district taxes will be charged for this package that should match your property tax return. And if we scroll down the red amount is the amount of credit that owner will get once they have calculated that amount on the overseas PTC if you paid Mawr. There's a link up there that you would use to indicate that you paid more. And the onley the red amount on that tab changes. And so you would then enter this red amount. It looks like 2718. Then we have this information that we keep clicking on. This is the final screen. We recommend that you print this out for your records. If I had more than one package I would go back and add another package. So if I own a few parcels of land and then I own a resident too, I can't go back and add that the parcel will accumulate in this table and calculate the total for you. That amount, the 2007 18, is the amount we'll be entering on the PTC form, also on our website, and Ryan has it for us. So around 2007 we're going to enter 18 on line one, line three, and then in this field, line five, where we enter the owner's district number, tax year, and dates when I own this property. Now the county number isn't the number on your license plate. If you don't know your county number, please return to this website, which has the website link and lists a county alphabetically and numerically. So Lane Custer is 55. So I know Lancaster is 55 so I put it on that form there. Then I go back to row four and take 2007 18. And that year the loan percentage is 6% based on the funds available. In this example, that taxpayer would enter $ 163 as shown on the screen. On the other hand, we'll print this form and mail it with your 10 40 Nebraska income tax return. And then that amount will be put on your Nebraska income tax return to show the credit. And that's on line 36 of the Nebraska income tax return. And you can see that we have a prepayment that is filled with $ 163 and that that taxpayer would complete his 10 through 40 including that line 36 and then calculate the amount of refund owed. And that's the quick demonstration because I think it's facing you. Otherwise you are for the Department of Revenue website. We also here partially. I would also what if you are okay? The governor asked me to re-deploy the website. It's Sales Point Nebraska Point Government, and it's under, um, we have what's featured when we return to the home page and there is featured information, excuse me in that red link, it will make you see what we call the landing page and that the as is included there. The governor asked me to explain the websites where you can look up your package IDs. And so you can click there in the blue box on the second blue box, and that will call up the document on which all 93 districts are listed. And the websites are linked there, and each county has its own website. And then his last question was, what if you submit electronically? Um, it would be the same process. You would go through this filing electronically. We allow you to attach documents, and you can also submit a file that we recommend to everyone else, okay?
Governor Ricketts will discuss failures, vaccines and taxes on Wednesday morning
Updated: 11:11 am CST February 17, 2021
On Wednesday, Governor Pete Ricketts held a press conference to discuss Nebraska's work in support of coronavirus vaccination and other issues. Addressing the rotating failures first, he said the Nebraska Public Power District, Omaha Public Power District, and the Lincoln Electric System had asked people to turn down thermostats. He said the victims were valued, but reiterated his feeling that rolling power outages were "totally unacceptable". "This is the United States of America, we are not a developing nation with an unreliable power grid here. We need to talk about it." Land over the power sources that power our power grid. Because we can't have these blackouts when we're in these freezing temperatures, ”he said. Ricketts said if radical environmentalists find their way, the rotating blackouts will stop and things will get worse. When asked if trust in wind energy was to blame, he said it was not in Nebraska. He said the state has an "electricity mix" but other states are too reliant on unserviceable energy. When it moved to COVID-19, the said Governor said Nebraska has had more than 300,000 vaccines and the hospital capacity looks good. "Thirty-seven percent of our hospital beds are available, 39 percent of our ICU beds are available, and 79 percent of our ventilators. So we have robust hospital capacity, "he said. He said the state is now in Phase 1B, prioritizing those 65 and over. Ricketts said nearly 85% of deaths in Nebraska are those in that group." Age was the biggest factor we see in the Nebraska data in terms of who is most at risk of death when you have coronavirus. So we asked health directors across the state to really focus on that category, "he said. He said teachers are being admitted to Phase 1B, but that they are not the top priority. He said that first responders, law enforcement agencies and critical care workers focus on it. Correction workers and homeless shelter workers also have priority. The governor said those who are prioritized are critical to public safety. When asked why the state ranks so low on vaccine distribution, Ricketts said, he doesn't know why people think that. He said we are number 20 in second doses according to the New York Times. Ricketts said he will urge long-term care residents to see their loved ones since 90% of residents are vaccinated The governor said residents will receive a refundable tax credit based on property taxes paid in schools. "This will be a refundable tax credit, which means that even if you don't owe income tax to the state of Nebraska, we'll give you a check for that difference. So if you don't owe income tax, we'll give you a check for the property's refundable tax credit." Yes, this is a great way to continue helping to ease property tax here in the state, "he said. Nebraska Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton said residents should use the school district property tax search tool to determine how much credit they are due based on the school's property taxes paid. Nebraskans can access this tool at Revenue.nebraska.gov. Officials said the tool will be featured prominently. In the video above, you will be guided through using the search tool.
On Wednesday, Governor Pete Ricketts held a press conference to discuss Nebraska's work in support of coronavirus vaccination and other issues.
He first addressed the rotating failures, saying the Nebraska Public Power District, the Omaha Public Power District, and the Lincoln Electric System had asked people to turn down the thermostats. He said the victims were valued, but reiterated his feeling that rolling power outages were "totally unacceptable".
"This is the United States of America. We are not a developing nation that has an unreliable power grid here. We need to have a conversation in this country about the power sources that power our grid. Because we can't have them." Rolling blackouts at a time when we have these freezing temperatures, "he said.
Ricketts said if radical environmentalists find their way, the rotating outages will stop and things will get worse. When asked if the trust in wind power was to blame, he said it wasn't in Nebraska. He said the state has a "power mix," but other states are too reliant on non-storable energy.
Regarding COVID-19, the governor said Nebraska has had more than 300,000 vaccines and hospital capacity is looking good.
"Thirty-seven percent of our hospital beds are available, 39 percent of our intensive care beds are available, and 79 percent of our ventilators. So we have robust hospital capacity," he said.
He said the state is now in Phase 1B, prioritizing those 65 and over. Ricketts said nearly 85% of deaths in Nebraska are from those of this group.
"Age was the biggest factor we see in the Nebraska data regarding who is most at risk of dying when you have coronavirus. That's why we asked health directors across the state to really focus on that category focus, "he said.
He said teachers will be accepted into Phase 1B, but that they are not the top priority. He said first responders, law enforcement and critical care workers are focused on this. Correctional staff and homeless shelter staff also have priority.
The governor said those who will be prioritized are vital to public safety.
When asked why the state ranks so low on vaccine distribution, Ricketts said he doesn't know why people think that. He said we are number 20 in second doses according to the New York Times.
Ricketts said he will press for long-term care residents to see their loved ones as 90% of residents have been vaccinated.
The governor said residents will receive a refundable tax credit based on property taxes paid in schools.
"This will be a refundable tax credit, which means that even if you don't owe income tax to the state of Nebraska, we'll give you a check for that difference. So if you don't owe income tax, we'll give you a check for the property's refundable tax credit." Yes, this is a great way to continue helping to ease property tax here in the state, "he said.
Nebraska Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton said residents should use the school district property tax search tool to determine how much credit they are due based on the school's property taxes paid.
Nebraskans can access this tool at Revenue.nebraska.gov. Officials said the tool will be featured prominently. In the video above, you will be guided through using the search tool.