Henderson attempts to clarify ‘redevelopment tax’

Greg Harman

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 11 a.m.

For years John Q. Henderson grudgingly paid his $300 in property taxes.

A few dollars for county projects, a few to the library district, and city, county and the school district all got their slice.

Then one day an unwelcome guest in bold black ink made an unexpected appearance on his annual tax statement.

"Henderson Redevelopment" -- $217 of it -- had mysteriously wedged its way between Henderson Debt Service and Las Vegas Artesian Basin taxes.

And somewhere in City Hall an unlucky city official is scorched by a fiery phone call or lambasted in a heated personal visit.

At this week's City Council meeting this fictional account was played out in full when council members found themselves berated by two angry taxpayers objecting to what appeared to be a new tax.

As Mayor James Gibson, Councilman Jack Clark and others tried to respond to these concerns, one red-faced opponent of redevelopment waved his tax statement in the air demanding, "Is this government's job, to steal from me and give it to some developer?"

Henderson Finance Director Steve Hanson acknowledged the critic had a point. "It's misleading. These are not the real rates," he said.

The tax statement held by the citizen contained a plainly defined rate of $1.19 per $100 property valuation.

Yet there is no such thing as a redevelopment tax.

Taxpayers in the redevelopment zone in Henderson pay no more taxes than any other resident of the city, city officials insist.

But the tax money of homeowners in the redevelopment zone is used differently. The zone includes most of the Henderson Townsite around Water Street, The Reserve hotel-casino at Lake Mead Drive and U.S. 95, and commercial properties along the eastern side of Boulder Highway from Palo Verde Drive to just south of Pabco Road.

Any increase in the tax bills of residents within the redevelopment zone since the 1995 creation of the redevelopment agency is earmarked for exclusive use by the Henderson Redevelopment Agency on improvement projects within the zone.

This increase over 1995 tax rates is known as the tax increment.

For example, any increase in appraised property values since the 1995 creation of the redevelopment district, or any increase in county, city or library taxes, is money tagged solely for redevelopment.

The county lists the accumulated tax increase meant for redevelopment as a separate item with its own tax rate to show where the money is going, not necessarily how it was generated.

"By statute the county treasurer has to inform the taxpayers of where their tax dollars are going. In the case of a redevelopment district that's included as a line item," said Laura Fitzpatrick, Clark County treasurer.

"What they need to do, I guess, is to have an actual and an adjusted rate," Hanson suggested.

The total appraised values of properties in the redevelopment area increased from $75 million to $134 million between 1995 and 2000.

Currently the city of Henderson reaps about $1.7 million annually for use in redevelopment. More than $500,000 comes from The Reserve, unfinished at the time of the redevelopment zone's creation.

To boost redevelopment dollars the city needs to expand the zone to lands being eyed by various developers looking for an incentive to build on the blighted lands.

Already Henderson has committed $58 million for extending infrastructure to the proposed Provenance master-planned community. And talk has begun about providing the project -- headed by LandWell, the development arm of industrial complex Basic Management Inc. -- another $25 million for additional services.

City officials say they hope to reap as much as $150 million in redevelopment dollars from Provenance by the time the redevelopment agency expires in 2025.

Residents aren't the only ones upset about redevelopment dollars. The Clark County School District regularly opposes the way tax dollars that would otherwise go toward maintaining the district are siphoned off for redevelopment.

"It's an ongoing battle. Every two years up at the state Legislature the school district raises that specter," Hanson said.

To appease the district and provide for new schools, Gibson has proposed supplementing the school district when large planned communities such as Provenance start moving into the zone.

"We have to put schools down there," Gibson said. "This is a real problem."

Greg Harman covers Henderson and Boulder City for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-8814 or by e-mail at harman@lasvegassun.com.