Metro eyes tax hike for officers

Jeff Schweers

Monday, March 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Facing a legislative deadline, Clark County Sheriff Jerry Keller likely will ask voters in November to raise their property taxes to hire 450 new Metro Police officers.

"We're probably going to do it," Keller said.

The Legislature has capped hiring by prohibiting Keller from asking voters to raise taxes more than 20 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. And if he doesn't do it this year, he would have to go back to the Legislature to ask for renewed permission to raise taxes.

Such an increase would give Keller $28 million to hire and train 450 cops over the next four years.

Keller has until mid-July to file papers with the Clark County registrar of voters to place the question on the Nov. 5 ballot.

On Sept. 3, voters will be asked to approve a $120 million bond package to pay for new jails, courtrooms and juvenile detention facilities.

While the September bond question wouldn't raise rates, the November issue would boost the tax on a $100,000 home by about $70 a year.

The city and county this month agreed to finance 100 new officers in their 1996-97 budgets, but they won't hit the streets for 18 months, Keller said.

"It's going to be a hard sell," Assessor Mark Schofield said of the Metro bond plan.

A school construction bond also will be on the general election ballot.

Keller said Metro needs 750 additional officers by the year 2000 to reach a ratio of two cops for every 1,000 residents. The current ratio is 1.6 to 1,000.

If the ballot question is approved, Keller still would need 50 new cops a year for the next four years to reach the 2-per-1,000 ratio.

In 1993, voters soundly rejected Metro's bid for 300 new cops. The only successful ballot question for new staff was in 1988, when voters agreed to an additional 10-cent property tax to raise $12.5 million for 200 new officers. The increase was structured so that it stepped up 2 cents a year for five years until it reached the maximum.

That tax rate is still in place.

Keller wanted the Legislature last year to give him unlimited authority to ask voters to raise taxes for more officers.

"Our legislation would have enabled us to make this proposal to taxpayers any time there was a general election," Metro budget chief Lois Roethel said.

But the proposal ran into opposition from the Nevada Taxpayers Association and state lawmakers.

"We opposed Metro having unlimited taxing authority. We wanted some parameters established," said Carole Vilardo, executive director of the watchdog group.

Vilardo's concern was that with unlimited authority, Metro could ask to gobble up the existing limit allowed under state law.

The Legislature has imposed a cap of $3.64 on property taxes, and while the county's tax rate at $2.03 is well below the cap, the city's rate is at $3.02, leaving little maneuvering room if the school district or fire department wanted to have a bond referendum, she said.

The rate is even higher in some areas, such as Mount Charleston, where the rate is highest at $3.22 with its fire district tax.

"What we proposed was to set a cap on the amount Metro could ask for, then ask for it over subsequent elections," Vilardo said. "What if he wanted to ask for a dollar increase? That would freeze everyone else out."

But the Senate Taxation Committee decided to set the cap at 20 cents, and make it a one-time offer, requiring Keller to come back to the Legislature to ask for additional taxing authority.

"What they were seeking was unlimited use of the ballot to be able to represent questions on any ballot they could get on without coming to the state and requesting permission," said Sen. Sue Lowden, R-Las Vegas, chairwoman of the Taxation Committee.

But Keller came without any specifics on how many cops he needed and how much he would have to raise taxes to get them, Lowden said. The Taxation Committee agreed to give Keller some flexibility, without going into the particulars, and make it a one-time deal since Keller had just been elected sheriff, Lowden said.

Lowden said she didn't believe Keller was being strapped by the 20-cent tax cap.

"We gave him some leeway," she said, but also required him to explain the question clearly, how much was going to be raised and what it was going to be used for.

"Everybody would like to see more police, but at what price and where are they coming from," Lowden said.

Lowden said the Legislature was the first line of defense against tax increases, and that people at the ballot booth were the second line. By requiring Keller to come back to the Legislature for future ballot questions, Lowden said, "We did pigeon-hole him a little bit."

But knowing that during the last session crime was the No. 1 issue, Lowden said, "I would have been hard-pressed to deny his request to put the issue on the ballot."