The State quit taking their share of the inheritance tax a couple of years ago,  said Cornett.
The tax is known as the “death tax,” Cornett said in a telephone interview Jan. 27.

“There are only eight states left that have an inheritance tax – Nebraska is one of them,” Cornett said. “Because of the inheritance tax Nebraska receives a down-grade in national rankings for state friendliness. It is looked at when an effort is made to try and attract businesses and people to move to our state. We need to do better in the national rankings.”
LB970, which was introduced at the request of Gov. Dave Heineman, is a good economic move for Nebraska, according to Cornett.
If LB970 is passed, it will take affect in 2013.
County governments will drastically be affected by the loss of inheritance funds.
The inheritance tax funds are not part of the normal budgets in the smaller counties although the larger counties do include inheritance funds in their budgets by using an average of what has been received over a specific number of years.
“The smaller counties that have less population can never be sure on the inheritance amount they would receive – so it is used somewhat like a cash reserve,” Cornett said. “The larger counties do include an amount in their budgets as they can statistically come up with an amount of inheritance funds to use in the budget.”
Cornett has met with county officials concerning the bill and has been doing some research.
“We are working on ways to help the counties – it is part of an on-going study,” Cornett said. “It is part of the process of negotiations with the bill.”
An amendment would then be added to the bill she said.

Administrators across the county seemed to think the new date was appropriate.
“We have had children from ages 4-6 years old,” said Stephanie Petersen, Laurel-Concord/Coleridge Elementary Principal, “LB 1006 is really trying to get everyone around age five in kindergarten. From a professional standpoint, I’m glad the state made the change, as it will be a big help to the students in kindergarten”
Holy Trinity Elementary School Principal Terry Kathol agrees.
“I understand the reasoning behind the law,” said Kathol said, “The curriculum in kindergarten is much more advanced than it has ever been. So ensuring that a child is older when they attend kindergarten has sound merit.”
Hartington Public School Supt. Randy Anderson said the law will be a big help to some students.
“There certainly are students who need the extra year before entering kindergarten,” said Anderson, “With the academics involved in kindergarten now, it is good for the students to have some more maturity.”
Randolph Elementary School Principal Jane Brummels said the law levels the playing field for kids.

“This is probably a positive,” Brummels said, “It narrows the range of ages for students in kindergarten and assures that the students attending are more prepared for it.”
Petersen noted the Elementary Principal’s Association supported a similar bill about 10 years ago, but the measure did not pass then. The group was a major supporter of LB 1006 as it went through the Unicameral this year.
Although students must now be at least five before entering kindergarten, parents can choose to hold their child’s entry to school for a year. With more and more academic standards, even at the kindergarten level, schools want to ensure the students really are capable of meeting those standards.
“We have always encouraged our parents to hold their child for a year if they question whether or not they are ready for kindergarten,” said Kathol.
Sometimes waiting a year is best for a child,Brummels said.
“Kindergarten is more demanding than ever before because of state standards,” said Brummels.
But the new standards should not be a cause for concern. They are more of a reaction to the capabilities of the incoming kindergarteners, area administrators say.
“One of the things that has affected the kindergarten curriculum the most is the number of children that have some preschool experience, and some of these students may even have more than one year of preschool,” said Kathol, “Kindergarteners are coming in with more knowledge. They know how to spell their names, they know letters, shapes, colors etc.”
Some families will no doubt be negatively affected by this change in legislation and subsequent change in local board policy. There are sure to be children caught in the new vacuum between July 31 and Oct. 15.

“(The law) does however take away some parental choice as to send their child or not if they have an August or September birth date,” said Kathol, “Children with these birthdates may be more than capable to handle the curriculum demands, especially taking into consideration the high number of students that have some preschool experience prior to kindergarten.”
Along with each school board being required to adopt the new eligibility date, they will also need to adopt an early-entry assessment policy. The early-entry assessments will be primarily for those students with birthdays between July 31 and Oct. 15.
In order to be considered for the early entrance process parents need to send a written request to the school. Testing will be conducted to determine if the child is ready for the rigors of kindergarten.
The cost for some of the early-entry assessments may fall on the parents of the children seeking early enrollment. Each school board will have to adopt a standard assessment, based on the state standards, and set the fee schedule.
According to the aforementioned administrators, no fees have been set by their respective school boards.
Parents should contact their local elementary schools for more information, or if they have concerns.

WYN OT  — An area man has died after the skid loader he was operating fell into the Missouri River near here.

The Cedar County Sheriff’s Dept. said the body of 79-year-old Richard McCorkindale, Allen, was pulled from the river Sunday.

The skid loader had been spotted in the river by passer’s by earlier in the day.

According to the Sheriff’s Dept. report,  the skid loader went over an embankment and into the river on private property west of Brooky Bottom.

Divers from Yankton, SD search and rescue then located the skid loader and McCorkindale’s body.

The accident remains under investigation by the Cedar County Sheriff’s Dept. and the Neb. State Patrol.

HARTINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns tried to give Hartington area residents a better picture Friday of the gloomy federal budget issue.
Sen. Johanns’ stopped in Hartington for the Friday Chamber of Commerce Chamber Coffee at Outdoorsmen Productions.
About 40 people attended the event, which featured a presentation complete with charts and graphs from Johanns.
Johanns told area residents the federal budget deficit is not a problem to be overlooked anymore. He stressed in his 25-minute talk to constituents that the U.S. simply cannot afford the “business as usual” practices.
“Our ongoing reckless spending is a key factor causing our weak economy and the biggest barrier to job growth,” Sen. Johanns said.
He then used several charts and graphs to help audience members better understand the situation.
“Right now, our debt stands at $14.2 trillion. It is projected to surpass $20 trillion within a decade. Additionally, we are currently borrowing 42 cents of every dollar we spend,” he said. “Our debt – must be brought under control.”
Johanns said the federal government’s economic situation is straining the budgets of Nebraska families, businesses and farmers who are trying to make ends meet.
“There is no easy solution,” he said. “If this was easy, the problem would have been fixed long ago.”
Johanns said everyone has to work together — the Republicans and Democrats, Congress and the President — they all need to be on the same page, he said.
Deficit reduction will mean some sort of decrease in services, Johanns said.
“There is no question this will hurt,” Johanns said. “We no longer have a choice. The money has run out on the credit card.”
Johanns said entitlement programs make up approximately half of the federal government’s spending. These programs can no longer be considered off limits, he said.
Nebraska’s former Governor and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, also said the budget issues will have an affect on the next Farm Bill.
“Reforming these programs will ensure they are available for future generations,” he said. ”If we’re going to make any real progress, nothing can be sacred.”
That includes agriculture, Johanns said.
“Knowing other things could be cut, I would hope that we would be able to strengthen the crop insurance program. That seems to be working well,” he said.
Johanns said he expects discussion on the new Farm Bill will start to pick up after the first of the year.