Council OKs consolidation question for ballot

Steve Sebelius

Thursday, June 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Las Vegas should have one government, one property tax rate and one way of deciding how much property is worth.

That was the word Wednesday as the City Council moved to put a non-binding question on the November ballot, asking residents if the city should consolidate with Clark County and adopt uniform taxes.

Spurred on by a Sun City property tax protest group -- which objects to sometimes-sharp differences in the property tax rate between cities and Clark County -- the council voted 5-0 Wednesday on what politically is a no-lose proposition.

But only city voters will get a chance to have their say on consolidation, as the city cannot decide what appears on ballots in Clark County. Charles Umnuss, leader of the Sun City group, said his members have yet to decide whether to ask county commissioners to follow the city's lead.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said 64 percent of all taxes (including property, sales and gaming taxes) flow to Clark County, while 43 percent goes to incorporated cities. However, 57 percent of valley residents live in cities, 43 percent in unincorporated Clark County.

And Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said homeowners with a $200,000 home pay $340 more in North Las Vegas, $254 more in Las Vegas and $171 more in Henderson than the owner of a similar home in Clark County.

"It is such insanity that I really wonder about the legality," said Councilman Matthew Callister, who with Jones has led the pro-consolidation charge for months.

Jones said the tax gap was used to kill consolidation in the past, with opponents saying it would hike property levies. She promised taxes would go down if governments in the valley merged, because duplicate managers would be eliminated.

Councilman Gary Reese said he's paid the higher taxes during the 25 years he's lived in eastern Las Vegas, and when he complained to a state lawmaker about the disparity, he said, the politician told him to move.

"I don't mind paying my share," Reese said. "The people who live out in Green Valley, out in Boulder City, in Summerlin should pay the same rate for the services we all receive."

Councilman Michael McDonald took the debate a step further: "This is what happened in England. This is how America was born," he said.

The consolidation movement has had its hurdles. In 1969, a consolidation measure was vetoed by then-Gov. Paul Laxalt. In 1976, a similar measure was overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court. And in 1978, Clark County voters defeated a consolidation initiative, although it carried in the city.

In 1993, a privately funded study determined the valley could save up to $24 million by consolidating, mostly through eliminating duplicate managers.

County officials have maintained the property tax rates are different because cities add more levies than the county has, and they argue the county needs more money because it must pay for regional services like University Medical Center, courts, jails, the district attorney and the county assessor.