Saturday, March 2, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The Clark County Commission on Tuesday will consider an ordinance to turn the 6,138-acre southern section of Summerlin into an unincorporated town to ensure money is raised to pay for services such as police and fire protection.
The proposed community stretching west from Hualpai Way to the foothills of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a first for Clark County, and the largest single development the county has had to plan for.
Anticipating the high cost of urban services, the county introduced a bill approved by the 1995 Legislature that allows it to create an unincorporated town out of the so-called Summerlin South.
Under the law, a town advisory board would not be appointed for 15 years, or until 16,200 homes are built in Summerlin South.
By creating the unincorporated town, Clark County can collect property taxes to pay for urban services such as fire, police, parks and recreation, and public works road maintenance.
"The primary purpose of the unincorporated town is not to fund infrastructure, it's to fund services," said Jeff Rhoads, chief planner for Summerlin.
According to the Clark County assessor's office, the land value for 1995-96 is almost $4 million, but the comparable value at $150,000 an acre is $873 million.
Summerlin President Dan Van Epp said the full real estate value after 15 years of development will be $4 billion, generating $17 million in revenue.
That's almost 60 percent of the total cost for services at build-out, according to a county study performed for the Legislature.
Most unincorporated towns in Clark County fund a similar proportion of services from property taxes, Assistant County Manager Dale Askew said. The rest is paid out of the county's general fund, which comes from sources such as sales, gaming and motor vehicle privilege taxes, Askew said.
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