County might be alone in loss of DMV tax

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, May 2, 2001 | 11:21 a.m.

Clark County may soon be the only entity in the state required to forfeit its motor vehicle privilege tax to help fund a statewide teachers' raise, a notion that infuriated county commissioners Tuesday.

Board members questioned Southern Nevada legislators' commitment to their constituents after learning that all but two counties -- Washoe and Clark -- have managed to exempt themselves from the bill.

Washoe County officials are also angling to pull out of Assembly Bill 457, said Jim Spinello, Clark County's chief lobbyist.

Commissioners who have been trying to gauge legislators' interest in the bill said Northern Nevada lawmakers intimated that they would support it if their county is removed from the language.

Southern Nevada lawmakers never responded to commissioners' requests to discuss the proposal.

"I didn't get a response from any local legislators," Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey said. "It's unusual, because we all ultimately represent the same people."

The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, is intended to provide a statewide 2 percent raise for teachers and also rejuvenate schools' book supplies. The money would come from each government's share of the state's motor vehicle privilege tax over a two-year period.

If the bill is passed the county would lose $36 million over two years from its general fund budget. Those coffers are used to fund police, fire and social services.

Commissioner Myrna Williams said Northern Nevada legislators have always believed that because Clark County has grown so significantly and so quickly, it has more money than other governments and can afford such losses.

"That's the attitude in Carson City as it relates to Clark County," said Williams, a state assemblywoman for 10 years before joining the County Commission. "They have fantasies about what it is we do and what we have."

Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said a 2 percent raise isn't enough to make a difference for school teachers. She said the average annual salary for a teacher is $35,000. That amounts to about $700 more dollars per year, but teachers would also experience a 7 percent increase in taxes.

"The equation isn't right," said Atkinson Gates, who said a 2 percent raise probably isn't possible if Clark County is the only entity pitching in.

The board agreed that teachers deserve a raise, but commissioners said county taxpayers already pay for new schools. State revenues have also grown over the past several years, and officials should commit more funding to teachers, they said.

"We need to find a way to increase teachers' salaries, but we also need to find a way to keep our budget intact," Kincaid-Chauncey said.