Tax system in place for quarter-cent hike

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

Officials with the Department of Taxation already know how to handle the problem if the Clark County Commission gets legislative approval to increase the sales tax rate by a quarter cent.

Taxation Director Michael Pitlock says the solution doesn't involve reopening the Carson City Mint to coin quarter-cent pieces.

Pitlock said the sales tax is collected in a way so people making small purchases will not pay an extra cent of tax. But on all purchases, he said the rate of the sales tax increase would be a quarter cent.

The Legislature is expected soon to approve AB291 that would allow the County Commission to increase the sales tax rate to 7.25 percent, up from the current 7 percent. The tax increase could be effective Oct. 1.

People who buy a dollar's worth of items would only pay 7 cents in sales taxes. The eighth cent would be collected when the price of items being purchased reaches $1.04.

The extra tax will be used by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to pay for part of a $2.9 billion water and sewer system project.

"We try to set the tax brackets so the net difference is minimal," Pitlock said. "On some purchases we collect more than the rate, on others less."

Larry Scott, chief of revenue for the Taxation Department, said most retailers will program into computerized registers the changes necessary for a quarter-cent tax increase.

Scott said the department has used a bracketed system since 1969 that insures the mathematical accuracy of the tax rates.