Editorial: New roads mean new tax dollars

Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 4:12 a.m.

In the fall of 1993 the public official in Southern Nevada most associated with transportation leadership was prescient in telling the Sun: "It's by far the most ambitious public works project ever in the state of Nevada. But what we're doing, it won't be enough." The public official was Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, chairman of the Regional Transportation Commission. He was speaking of the Master Transportation Plan, known to voters in 1990 as Question 10. During the 1990s the Spaghetti Bowl was redesigned, the Desert Inn Super Arterial was built, a substantial portion of the beltway was completed, Tropicana Avenue was widened in the resort corridor, pedestrian overpasses were built for the Strip and access to the airport was improved. Dozens of other projects were possible thanks to Question 10 taxes, which are now generating about $160 mill ion a year. But Woodbury was right: That money isn't enough.

Throughout 2001 Woodbury and 42 other leaders met periodically as the Regional Transportation Commission Community Coalition, or RTC3. Members identified new taxes they say will cost the individual taxpayer under $5 a month, but which will raise nearly $2.6 billion over the next 25 years for transportation. Without the improvements made possible 12 years ago by voter approval of Question 10, Las Vegas Valley roads today would be chaotic. The voters of 1990 recognized the need to pony up. Because projections show the valley's population increasing from 1.4 million to 2.3 million over the next 25 years, it's time to pony up again.

One need the new taxes would address is converting beltway frontage roads -- existing now from Cheyenne Avenue in the northwest to Decatur Boulevard in the southwest, and from Stephanie Street east past Gibson Road to the end of the beltway at Lake Mead Drive -- into a full-fledged freeway. Other plans include adding 225 Citizen Area Transit buses and seven new routes, a high-tech light rail system to complement the CAT buses, synchronized traffic signals, electronic signs that warn of bottlenecks, car pooling programs and 400 miles of bicycle routes. All would serve a twofold purpose -- easing congestion and improving air quality.

To pay for the improvements, the committee chose a graduated increase of the development tax on new homes and apartments, increases to the gasoline and jet fuel taxes, and a hike in smog fees. The committee also found that debts about to be retired could allow a portion of property taxes to be dedicated to transportation. Additionally, the sales tax would rise from 7.25 percent to 7.375 percent.

There are questions regarding at least two of the proposed tax increases. The sales tax in Clark County would be the highest sales tax in the state and on the high end nationally under the proposed increase. While the proposed sales tax increase raises the most amount of money over the 25 years -- $1.075 billion -- voters should note that this incremental increase could be the beginning of a slide toward 8 percent. With other needs pressuring the state budget, such as education, the sales tax is a well that will be visited again.

Sales taxes are also regressive, meaning they take a higher toll on lower income taxpayers. A 7.375 percent tax on a person earning $20,000 a year is a higher burden proportionally than the same tax imposed on someone earning $200,000.

The proposed development tax also is regressive. By the year 2020, the development tax will have risen from $500 for a single-family home to $1,000. Because developers will pass this tax on, the buyer of a 1,200-square-foot home will pay the same as the buyer of a 12,000-square-foot home. The RTC3 committee is correct in its assessment of need. But RTC commissioners should consider a progressive development tax, one proportionate to the size of the home.

It's still early, and there's lots of room for discussion on what the final funding package will look like. But all options should be considered in the expensive but necessary fight against gridlock.