Gage County officials have agreed to raise property taxes by 12 cents to pay the 28-Million-dollar judgment awarded the Beatrice Six.

The move raises the county rate to the maximum allowed by state law:  50 cents per thousand.

Gage County Board chair Myron Dorn says the county has no choice and he objects to how some residents have portrayed the action.

County Attorney Roger Harris sees no other way to pay the judgment.

Even with the tax hike, it will take several years to pay the six Beatrice residents wrongly imprisoned for the death of Helen Wilson in 1985.

The county has appealed the judgment to the US Supreme Court, an appeal considered a long-shot.