Sparks faces tax hike or service cuts

Friday, May 1, 1998 | 10:39 a.m.

The culprit is sales tax receipts, which are running almost 6 percent behind what the city was counting on. That translates to a $1.7 million shortfall, the City Council was told during a budget hearing on Thursday.

It would take a 5 percent reduction in the budget or a 10-cent hike in property taxes to offset that. Increasing taxes 10 cents per each $100 worth of assessed valuation would cost somebody with a $100,000 home $35 dollars a year.

Any tax hike would have to be approved by voters. City Manager Terry Reynolds said that since employees account for $29 million of the city's $35 million budget, the only way to offset the deficit would be layoffs or a hiring freeze.

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