Gov. Heineman Announces Several Appointments

(Lincoln, NE) Gov. Dave Heineman today announced appointments to positions within the Nebraska Department of Revenue and the Tax Equalization Review Commission (TERC).

The Governor has asked Ruth Sorensen of Lincoln to join Revenue as Nebraska’s Property Tax Administrator. She will be taking over for Catherine Lang, who will become the Deputy Tax Commissioner at Revenue on Aug. 1.

The Governor also announced the appointment of Nancy Salmon of Aurora to serve as a commissioner with TERC. She will represent the state’s 3rd Congressional District, and is currently the County Assessor for Hamilton County.

Sorensen, 43, has served as a commissioner with TERC since April when she was appointed to fill a vacancy. Before her appointment, she had worked as an attorney with the Nebraska Department of Property Assessment and Taxation since 2003, with responsibilities for researching state statutes and the Constitution on tax compliance issues, drafting legislation and reviewing appeals filed with TERC.

She was in private practice with the Law Offices of Polsky, Cope, Shiffermiller & Coe in Lincoln from 2000 to 2003, and was an attorney with Revenue from 1998 to 2000. She worked for a legal firm in Denton, N.J. before relocating to Nebraska in 1998.

She graduated with honors from Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H. in 1992, and received her law degree from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) College of Law in 1994. A new TERC commissioner to replace Sorensen has not yet been named.

Lang was first appointed Property Tax Administrator in 1996 by then-Gov. Ben Nelson.

Prior to serving as head of the Department of Property Assessment and Taxation, she was Special Counsel to the Tax Commissioner and director of the Property Tax Division when it was originally part of Revenue. Lang worked as an attorney for Revenue from 1983 to 1991, having earned her bachelor’s and law degrees from UNL.