Changes asked in gas tax formula

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 10:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A recommendation is going to the Nevada Legislature to change the distribution of the gasoline tax so a greater share will go to the more populous counties.

The gasoline tax is used for building and maintaining roads.

A legislative taxation committee, headed by Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, Thursday stamped its approval on the new plan that places greater emphasis on population in distributing the money.

Currently, 3.6 cents of tax on every gallon of gasoline goes back to the counties. That yields about $38 million a year. The distribution to the counties is now based on road miles, the size of the county, the miles traveled and population.

Marvin Leavitt of Las Vegas, a member of an advisory committee, said the new distribution formula is based two-thirds on population and one-third on road miles.

Legislation attending the new formula would stipulate that no county ever receive less than it is now. Clark and other more populated counties, however, would benefit by receiving increases each year calculated on the new formula and the premise of no loss to the other counties.

Clark County now receives about $16 million a year from the tax. If the system is changed starting next year, Clark would receive about $16.5 million. As the tax collections grew over the years, Clark County would realize more and more money.

Assemblyman Roy Neighbors, D-Tonopah, complained that Nye, Elko and about nine other counties could go for years without getting any increase, but Leavitt said the goal is to "get a fair distribution on relative need."

This formula change has been in the works for about five years.

The current formula accounts for highway and road miles in each county regardless of whether the state maintains them. In the future, only those roads owned and maintain by the counties will figure in the computations.

Neighbors complained that there are 600 miles of streets in downtown Las Vegas that are maintained by the state. Yet these are counted now in favor of Clark County in the distribution of the money.