Tax push draws little interest

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, May 10, 2001 | 10:07 a.m.

The campaign fliers and the "Yes on 1" bag clips set out on tables went mostly untouched Wednesday.

With less than two weeks before early voting opens May 19, just 25 Henderson residents showed up at Lamping Elementary School to discuss a public safety tax that would raise a projected $850 million over 30 years.

About a dozen representatives from City Hall and the police and fire departments were on hand for the informal town hall meeting.

The proposed tax would cost owners of a $100,000 home about $84 annually. It would pay the salaries of 237 new public safety officers to be hired over seven years, including 166 police officers and 30 firefighters.

Voters narrowly rejected the same tax question in November.

"I'm a little bit disappointed," Councilman Andy Hafen said of the low turnout. Hafen and others expected closer to 100 residents.

The meeting was the first of seven town hall meetings scheduled before the general election on June 5.

Citizens for a Safer Henderson, an ad hoc citizens group, planned the meetings in an effort to inform residents of the consequences of not approving the tax, Jim Ferrence, a spokesman for the group, said.

"The council, the safety committee, even our own staff -- we were all overconfident," Hafen said. "We just didn't do a good job of telling people of the need the first time around."

"But I'm telling you," Hafen added, "We're going to have some serious ramifications in this city if this doesn't pass."

Monty Sparks, deputy police chief, and Joe Hill, outgoing fire chief, told residents that without the additional money, emergency response times would continue to increase and less vital services would have to be cut.

The Henderson Police Department currently employs 211 officers, for an average of just less than one officer to every 1,000 residents, Sparks said. The International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends 2.5 officers for every 1,000 people, he said. Both Las Vegas and North Las Vegas employ just over two officers per 1,000 residents, he said.

If the tax passes, the ratio in Henderson would increase to 1.5 officers for every 1,000 residents.

Don Lovell, a retired sales manager for a refrigeration company, said he was "deadset against" the tax.

"We had a presidential candidate who wanted a recount of several counties and the U.S. Supreme Court turned him down. Here we had a 'No' vote, by 800 votes, and the city of Henderson put it back on the ballot with no modifications. That shows an absolute contempt of every voter who voted for or against," Lovell said.

Ferrence said the tax remained intact because "there wasn't any gravy in the initial proposal."

A retired resident on a fixed income who gave his name as "Joe Blow" complained that his electric, natural gas, water and cable TV rates were all going up -- he didn't want to accept increased property taxes as well.

"One reason I moved to Henderson was because of the low tax base," he said.

Richard Derrick, budget manager, said even with the tax increase, Henderson property owners will pay significantly less than their counterparts in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.