A new report indicates Nebraska is the least tax competitive state in the region and residents have one of the highest tax burdens in the nation.

The Platte Institute for Economic Research along with Creighton University just completed the study. “There are many, many good things to say about Nebraska,” says the Platte Institute’s Roger Lempke. “Tax burden is one of those things, unfortunately, that hasn’t been viewed to be all that good."

"Nebraska will be even less competitive in the year 2016, in other words, this burden that we have that Nebraska citizens have placed upon them is getting worse and will get worse," says Creighton’s Ernie Goss.

According to the report, Nebraska moved from the 17th highest tax burden in the nation in 1992 to the ninth highest in 2006.

There are many things that make the tax burden grow in Nebraska. The state’s tax exempt property tax laws that force some older citizens to leave the state, the heavy burden on the middle class and the brain drain, the loss of well-educated citizens.

Some of the brightest young minds in the state can be found on the Creighton campus. Taxes are not currently a priority on the minds of most students. They just want a job.

"It’s just not the number one factor in where I'm going to live after graduation,” says junior Marie Young. “The job market is gonna pull me wherever it pulls me. Taxes are just going be a part of that."

“In the next few years when I decide on where I'm gonna get my job, probably be a big factor, what kind of money I'm gonna make and how much money's gonna be taken out for taxes and stuff," says freshman Dan Manning.

Nebraska’s tax burden really weighs down the homeowner. Judy Jones of Omaha moved to a smaller home in hopes of paying less taxes. She found out there’s nowhere to run in the Cornhusker State.

"Five years ago, I downsized from southwest Omaha to the Aksarben area. It helped out a bit, but again, in the past couple of years they've gone up considerably higher than they should I think for the neighborhood and the size of my property."

Linda Shaw of Omaha is retired and still paying property taxes while others her age with less income pay little or no property tax. "If you make a few dollars over you can't be tax exempt. That’s wrong because it should be proportionate unless you're an American veteran, served in the military, they should be, and people that are handicapped."

The authors of the report contend that if these trends continue, Nebraska will be one of the highest taxed states in the union. What worries Linda is she dosen’t see things slowing down.

“And then with the tax that they may have to put on it if they're going to do that new ballpark downtown, it’s gonna come back on us taxpayers. That’s what I'm afraid of."

The report states that Nebraska must cut 1.2 percent each year from state and local taxes to lower the state tax burden to the national average by 2016.