By NATE JENKINS

Associated Press Writer

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Nebraska lawmakers worried aloud on Friday that reducing next year's school-funding plan by $32 million might cause local districts to raise property taxes at the same time residents are pleading for relief.

The concerns didn't stop the Legislature, however, from quickly approving the budget-cutting plan on Friday. The Legislature easily gave first-round approval to the measure, which is key to an overall plan to slash $334 million from the two-year state budget because of declining revenues.

Lawmakers are meeting in a special legislative session called by Gov. Dave Heineman to close the budget gap.

"This bill is not intended to increase the property tax," said Sen. Greg Adams of York, chairman of the Legislature's Education Committee and architect of the measure that appears headed toward final approval. "It's up to individual school districts to make that call."

Under the plan, schools would receive the same amount of total state aid next year as they will get this year - about $933 million. Without curbing the rise of state aid as the bill proposes, schools would get about $32 million more next year than this year.

The plan to slow spending comes on the heels of an overall 10 percent spike in state aid to schools this year over last year. That won't be touched by lawmakers and is largely due to federal stimulus dollars.

Because of a complex formula that determines how much individual schools get based on their needs and ability to pay for them, there will be winners and losers if the bill passed Friday gets final approval.

Generally, districts with stagnant or declining enrollments would be stung more because lawmakers decided that districts with growing enrollments should have more leeway to increase spending.

Some of the state's midsize districts - in towns such as McCook, Falls City, Fremont, Schuyler, O'Neill, Gering and Fairbury - could be hit the hardest, according to preliminary figures released to lawmakers.

McCook Public Schools Superintendent Grant Norgaard was surprised when he saw the figures on Friday, calling them "very bothersome."

"I assumed the burden would be shared by everyone," Norgaard said. "Some districts aren't getting hit at all."

He said a possible 4 percent reduction in state aid next year for his district could force it to cut programs. Raising property taxes wasn't an option, he said, because it would be unacceptable to residents.

"I don't even want to mention it," he said.

The district's property-tax levy is at the state-set cap of $1.05 per $100 of valuation, so voters would need to override the limit to raise taxes.

State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, one of 11 senators who voted against the bill on Friday, said it presents the opportunity for increasing property taxes in some districts.

"Are we willing to pass along what we're taking away?" from school districts, he asked.

Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha said the funding decreases called for in the bill aren't large enough to force property-tax hikes.

"This is a measured, non-drastic, fair, unfortunate thing," he said of the bill.

A second-round vote on the bill is expected next week.