LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska county that owes a $28 million legal judgment to people wrongfully convicted of a 1985 murder could impose a sales tax to pay it under a bill advanced by a legislative committee.
Members of the Revenue Committee voted 7-0 on Tuesday to advance the measure to the full Legislature for debate.
The proposal by state Sen. Myron Dorn, of Adams, would allow Gage County to impose a half-cent sales tax to pay off the federal judgment in the case of six wrongfully accused people known as the Beatrice Six. Approving the tax would require a two-thirds vote of the county board.
Dorn has said the bill would help the county pay off the judgment faster and keep property tax payers from having to shoulder the whole burden.