VIII-1.
Revenue; raised by taxation; legislative powers.
The
necessary revenue of the state and its governmental subdivisions shall be
raised by taxation in such manner as the Legislature may direct.
Notwithstanding Article I, section 16, Article III, section 18, or Article
VIII, section 4, of this Constitution or any other provision of this
Constitution to the contrary: (1) Taxes shall be levied by valuation uniformly
and proportionately upon all real property and franchises as defined by the
Legislature except as otherwise provided in or permitted by this Constitution;
(2) tangible personal property, as defined by the Legislature, not exempted by
this Constitution or by legislation, shall all be taxed at depreciated cost
using the same depreciation method with reasonable class lives, as determined
by the Legislature, or shall all be taxed by valuation uniformly and
proportionately; (3) the Legislature may provide for a different method of
taxing motor vehicles and may also establish a separate class of motor vehicles
consisting of those owned and held for resale by motor vehicle dealers which
shall be taxed in the manner and to the extent provided by the Legislature and
may also establish a separate class for trucks, trailers, semitrailers,
truck-tractors, or combinations thereof, consisting of those owned by residents
and nonresidents of this state, and operating in interstate commerce, and may
provide reciprocal and proportionate taxation of such vehicles. The tax
proceeds from motor vehicles taxed in each county shall be allocated to the
county and the cities, villages, and school districts of such county; (4) the
Legislature may provide that agricultural land and horticultural land, as
defined by the Legislature, shall constitute a separate and distinct class of
property for purposes of taxation and may provide for a different method of
taxing agricultural land and horticultural land which results in values that
are not uniform and proportionate with all other real property and franchises
but which results in values that are uniform and proportionate upon all
property within the class of agricultural land and horticultural land; (5) the
Legislature may enact laws to provide that the value of land actively devoted
to agricultural or horticultural use shall for property tax purposes be that
value which such land has for agricultural or horticultural use without regard
to any value which such land might have for other purposes or uses; (6) the
Legislature may prescribe standards and methods for the determination of the
value of real property at uniform and proportionate values; (7) in furtherance
of the purposes for which such a law of the United States has been adopted,
whenever there exists a law of the United States which is intended to protect a
specifically designated type, use, user, or owner of property or franchise from
discriminatory state or local taxation, such property or franchise shall
constitute a separate class of property or franchise under the laws of the
State of Nebraska, and such property or franchise may not be taken into
consideration in determining whether taxes are levied by valuation uniformly or
proportionately upon any property or franchise, and the Legislature may enact
laws which statutorily recognize such class and which tax or exempt from
taxation such class of property or franchise in such manner as it determines;
and (8) the Legislature may provide that livestock shall constitute a separate
and distinct class of property for purposes of taxation and may further provide
for reciprocal and proportionate taxation of livestock located in this state
for only part of a year. Each actual property tax rate levied for a
governmental subdivision shall be the same for all classes of taxed property
and franchises. Taxes uniform as to class of property or the ownership or use
thereof may be levied by valuation or otherwise upon classes of intangible
property as the Legislature may determine, and such intangible property held in
trust or otherwise for the purpose of funding pension, profit-sharing, or other
employee benefit plans as defined by the Legislature may be declared exempt
from taxation. Taxes other than property taxes may be authorized by law.
Existing revenue laws shall continue in effect until changed by the
Legislature.