Most Nebraskans who attended a town hall meeting in Omaha on Sunday agreed that property taxes are a major problem. But like the state’s senators, they were divided on what should be done in the special legislative session that is expected to begin Thursday.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, joined by a half-dozen other senators — two Republicans and four Democrats — invited a crowd of about 200 to UNO’s Thompson alumni center on Sunday for a town hall meeting on property taxes. The senators got an earful, but not everyone was singing in unison.

First up was a woman from Bennington who said property taxes are making a bad situation worse.

“I’m tired of seeing my friends and family lose their jobs because the government never cuts anything,” she said. “There has to be cuts. Government jobs shouldn’t be a guarantee. We have to cut budgets across the board.”

Fred Robertson, a retired teacher from Ralston, said the situation isn’t dire for everyone. Robertson said his property taxes have gone up significantly, but so has the value of his home.

“All things considered, I could be better off with a house worth a lot more than we bought it for, and paying a little more in taxes,” Robertson said.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has proposed ending sales tax exemptions and having the state take over school operating costs, in a bid to reduce property taxes by an average of 50 percent. Sheri Shuler of Omaha wondered whether a state takeover of the funding could affect what gets taught.

“Can the governor say, ‘Oh, we don’t want these books in any library in the state,’ even though OPS might be OK with those books?” she asked.

And Jason Odom of Omaha said Pillen’s proposal would benefit older, established landowners at the expense of younger, poorer Nebraskans. Odom urged senators to reject the proposal by Pillen, who ran a successful hog farm before becoming governor.

“You have the opportunity to stop Pillen from plundering the state treasury,” he said. “He cannot be trusted. Don’t be fooled by a wolf in pig’s clothing.”