Increased levies on property will be allocated to build new schools

Larry Henry

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A bill using higher property taxes to build schools in booming Clark County has cleared the Assembly Infrastructure Committee.

"The state of Nevada has stepped to the plate in doing something about school construction," said Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, after Wednesday's vote.

Assembly Bill 353, which Giunchigliani sponsored, would build 82 schools over 10 years, at a cost of $2 billion. Clark County school officials estimate the area needs one elementary school every 30 days.

Under current financing, each of the state's 17 districts build schools by asking voters to raise their own taxes for brief periods. But voters in some districts are rejecting higher taxes, and in Clark County, school construction can't keep up with growth.

Giunchigliani's bill would change the formula by adding higher room taxes and real estate transaction fees and by asking voters to freeze property taxes at a higher rate for 10 years.

Clark County voters agreed last year to a short-term increase to build 16 new schools. That raised the rate on a $100,000 home by $38.47.

If voters refuse to lock that higher rate in for a decade, Giunchigliani said, legislators will have to find a different source of money during the 1999 session.

"We'll have to look at the state general fund or at other taxes out there," she said.

Opponents argue that Giunchigliani's bill is unfair because it creates an extreme burden on property taxes. They say the money should come from elsewhere.

"For every casino room that goes up, they should have to build a classroom," said Kris Jensen of Nevada Concerned Citizens, a conservative lobbying group.

AB353's future is uncertain, in part because the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is working behind the scenes to change the taxing formula.

Under Giunchigliani's plan, the LVCVA would forfeit five-eighths percent in room tax money it receives to promote special events.

LVCVA officials contend they agreed to give up $10 million a year and that the five-eighths figure brings in $11 million -- a number that could go even higher as more rooms are built.

Assemblyman Pete Ernaut, R-Reno, who serves on the Infrastructure Committee, said the LVCVA will press its case as the bill proceeds through legislative channels.

"You probably haven't heard the last of it," he said after the hearing. "Nobody wants to be punitive to the LVCVA, but this bill had to move."

The measure hit a snag this week while Ernaut worked on an amendment requiring the school district to keep a year's worth of bond money in reserve in case property values drop.

Under Ernaut's amendment, property taxes wouldn't go up to account for the shortfall.

The panel approved the amended bill and will send it to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee for further consideration.