Nebraska Democratic Party: Wall Street Pete: The Value of a Home

Wall Street Pete: The Value of a Home

Jun 07, 10:58 AM CST

If you own a home in Douglas County, you know that County Assessor Roger Morrissey sent you your latest property valuation statement at the end of May. Many are not pleased, but at the same time, many do not own a home valued at 1.1 million dollars. Nor have they spent 5 million dollars on a primary campaign for Senate.

So, many are wondering why Suzanne Shore, Pete Ricketts’ wife, went to Morrissey’s office yesterday to protest the valuation of their home. Action 3 News in Omaha was there to speak to her about the visit. Click here to see the story.

This isn’t the first time that Pete and Suzanne have gone through this process. They purchased the home in May of 1999 for $1.2 million. In March of 2002, the value was assessed at $1,181,300. Pete thought this just wasn’t fair. So, he requested that the county reduce the assessed value of the 4,600 square foot home to $624,960. No, you’re eyes are not deceiving you. That’s nearly half of what the assessor valued the home at. Pete and the county reached a compromise, and the assessment was reduced to $900,000.

Then Pete and Suzanne did a little remodeling and added on to their garage. So, of course, that would increase the value of the home. According to the county website, the latest valuation shows the home’s worth at 1.1 million dollars.

Actually, this seems to be a family trait. According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Pete’s father, J. Joe Ricketts sought a similar adjustment the same year. In 2002, he won an appeal to reduce the assessment on the house he purchased in 1999 for $6.5 million to an assessed value of $2.7 million in 2000. The Douglas County assessor in 2002 and 2003 assessed the property at $4.77 million.

In an AP story today, Pete’s spokesperson Trisha Meuret said Ricketts has estimated his net worth at between $45 million and $50 million. Yeah, that couple extra grand a year would just kill him.

Sure seems like a pattern to me…here is a guy who wants to lower his own taxes but at the same time wants a national sales tax that would raise taxes for 95% of Nebrakans. Gee, and all we have to do to avoid the national sales tax is not buy anything.

– by Eric Fought | Send this to a friend

I’m way blogging from the road: vegas.

Just to let you know, I’m in vegas at the Young Democrats of America & Yearly Kos conventions.

Amazingly, one of the first people I met knew about Jim Esch, and the first person to hear I was from Nebraska told me “I can’t believe the republicans nominated a millionaire like pete rickets… that can’t play well in nebraska can it?”

More updates to come later, they’ll be posted at the nebraska young democrats website www.nebraskayoungdemocrats.org
— John Owens-Ream Jun 07, 11:23 AM CST #
Awesome John! Thanks for the update.
— Eric Jun 07, 01:01 PM CST #
This is an incredibly boneheaded move by Ricketts because the TV ads in his primary campaign depicted him as some kind of middle class guy from Nebraska City. This property valuation protest will only help Nelson call attention to the fact that Ricketts is very wealthy and that his primary campaign TV ads created a false image of Ricketts.
— Football Madman Jun 07, 02:41 PM CST #
I kow that Pete Ricketts doesn’t like lawyers, (he bashed Dave Kraemer for being a lawyer), maybe if we ask nice we can we get the name of the lawyers he paid $245 an hour (or more) to reduce his property tax.
Chuck Hagel promised in 1996 to lower property taxes, I guess he meant that as as a Us Sneator he would know some lawyers who would help the billionaires reduce the property taxes of anyone who was worth more than 100 million dollars.
— vince powers Jun 07, 08:56 PM CST #
The way the Ricketts family claims to have OVERPAID for the houses that they live in, I don’t know how the people of Nebraska can take Pete’s claim of fiscal responsibility seriously. He paid $1.2 million for a house that – with a straight face – he claimed was worth barely half that amount? Meanwhile, Daddy Ricketts paid $6.5 million for a house worth only 40% of that much?

Something doesn’t add up here. Either the Ricketts family are a bunch of darn fools with money or they’re really cheating the school children who rely on property taxes to fund their education. Which one is it, Pete?

My God, the family is worth more than a billion dollars! Is it really asking too much that they simply pay their share and meet their obligations – etpecially when running for PUBLIC office?
— Kyle Michaelis Jun 07, 11:17 PM CST #
Kyle,
Please quit picking on those wealthy people. You know how horribly hurt they already are now that the repeal of their “Death Tax” didn’t pass.
As for the school children – the uber wealthy need drones to fuel their factories with cheap labor. If we educate our children too much, they might begin to question things and become more demanding.
;-)
— Brian T. Osborn Jun 08, 10:02 AM CST #
Speaking of home valuations, wasn’t there a bill passed within the last few years that exempted people with historic property from taxes for 10 years? I want to make sure I have my facts straight.
— Barb Rainey Jun 08, 01:36 PM CST #
Barb –

I think you are referring to the Valuation Incentive Program, which allows for a freeze in home valuation increases for a period of eight years. So, it actually doesn’t exempt the home owner from paying taxes, just freezes the valuation.

More information can be found on the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office website, www.nebraskahistory.org.
— Eric Jun 08, 01:45 PM CST #
Brian-

Let’s not discuss the failed estate tax/”death tax” repeal any further. It’s not polite to insult ones host in his own home.

Regardless, we can be glad that it didn’t pass. Rest assured, if there’s ever a Sen. Pete Ricketts, this will be his first order of business, and every dollar that he spends on this race – no matter how many millions – will have been a sound investment when his pappy goes to that stock market in the sky.
— Kyle Michaelis Jun 08, 04:48 PM CST #
Eric-

We going to see a “From the Road” report from the Cuming County Convention? Just talked to my mom in West Point (the county seat), and she wanted to thank you, our great state Senator Matt Connealy, and our next Congresswoman, Maxine Moul, for bringing life, energy, and hope to that particularly beautiful corner of rural Northeast Nebraska.

Of course, Mother Michaelis is computer literate and could have posted these things herself. What can I say? She’s too “humble” – pity that didn’t rub off a little bit better on her #2 son.
— Kyle Michaelis Jun 08, 05:44 PM CST #
Kyle –
We had a great time and I haven’t forgotten about the great Democrats in Cumming County!

Maxine and I actually visited three counties last night. I hope to be able to pull together a report of our travels, with photos this weekend.

It was great meeting your Mom. She’s right – there was an incredible energy in the room. Look for great things to come out of Cumming County!
— Eric Jun 08, 09:04 PM CST #
Funny you should mention the “death tax”, Brian. I just watched the NDP/Nelson commercial for the first time tonight. I think I can say with honesty that this is the first time I’ve ever had the urge to put a brick through my friggin computer screen.
— Don Kuhns Jun 09, 12:30 AM CST #
Don,
The “death tax” issue is just one of those issues that Ben and I disagree on. But, then again, I am a Liberal Democrat, and darned proud to be one. Ben is a Conservative Democrat and votes how what he thinks best – which is probably more attuned to how the majority of Nebraskans think.

I know I would have a snowball’s chance in Fiji of ever being elected to any high office in this state with my opinions. So, as a realist, I will continue to support Ben against what I perceive as a genuine threat to the welfare of Nebraska, the United States, and the world in general – Pete Ricketts. Pete is just a GW clone in my mind.

Now I don’t have anything against people who have, through their hard work, attained success in life, be it financial or otherwise, but I prefer to champion the causes of the working class. The balance in this nation between those whose sweat produces wealth and those who profit from it has been tipped way too far in favor of those wearing the white collars. I believe there should be a more fairly proportionate distribution of wealth. “Trickle down” economics sounds like something nasty to me.

As for taxes, I think that those who have profitted the most from the benefits of our capitalist society have a duty to return the favor by paying more taxes. The current administration obviously feels that the more you make, the less you should pay. Well, someone has to pay to keep our society running, and those who can afford it least just can’t shoulder that burden. We’ve already burdened every man, woman, and child in this country with around $30,000 in debt just within the past five or six years of Republican rule. It is time for a change, and the only way we can affect that is by electing Democrats.
— Brian T. Osborn Jun 09, 09:37 AM CST #
More on the subject at the UNO College Dems Blog
— Dave Sund Jun 09, 07:25 PM CST #
As Kyle explained far better than I could in this blog post ,the shocker is not Nelson’s use of the phrase “death tax”, but the fact that NDP brass signed off on this turd. This goes beyond the timidity I have noted previously to outright treason, and whoever is responsible needs to be held accountable. Karl Rove is now scripting our television commercials.
— Don Kuhns Jun 10, 06:16 AM CST #
No doubt, Don, that a refresher on framing is needed. I don’t care whether or not Nelson is against the estate tax – well, I do, but it’s not gonna kill my vote for him… They are still letting the Republicans control the debate. And that hurts every single one of our other candidates – who need to make the debate about what Republicans are doing wrong. This is a difficult proposition when the top of your ticket agrees with them more often than not.
— Dave Sund Jun 10, 01:00 PM CST #
He want Ben Nielson to quite slaming him yet he keeps slaming Ben Nielson. Thats not right
— Dan Phifer Oct 09, 06:01 AM CST #