RTC to push for sales tax increase

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 10:56 a.m.

Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury is taking his message on the road -- the region needs a quarter-percent sales tax increase to keep the cars and trucks moving.

Woodbury said today that he has started a political action committee to push the issue, which would provide more than $2 billion over the next 25 years for transportation improvements throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

Woodbury also is chairman of the Regional Transportation Commission, Southern Nevada's lead transportation and mass-transit planning agency.

The RTC board Thursday approved a recommendation to raise Clark County's sales tax to 7.5 percent from 7.25 percent now. The sales tax increase would be the largest part of a tax package.

The tax proposal also includes another $700 million from other taxes, including increased impact fees on new homes and commercial buildings and a 1 cent per gallon increase on jet fuel taxes.

Woodbury said he knows acceptance of the tax increase is not a sure thing. Already, he has given "between a dozen and 20 speeches on the issue."

"I expect I will be on the road almost constantly between now and November," he said.

And Woodbury has helped start a political action committee dedicated to passing the tax increases. He said the goal of the group is to raise $400,000 to $500,000 to buy advertising pushing the proposal. Without the new taxes, the alternative is gridlock on the urban roads and highways, RTC General Manager Jacob Snow told the board of elected policy makers from throughout the region, which accepted the recommendation without opposition.

Snow said 2.2 million people would choke transportation arteries, putting Las Vegas on a level with the worst traffic-congested city in the United States -- Los Angeles.

The proposal still has three hurdles to clear before it becomes law.

Next month, the Clark County Commission would have to accept the proposal to go before the voters in November. If the voters endorse the plan, it will go to next year's session of the Legislature for final action.

RTC officials said the sales tax increase does not have to go through those steps. The Legislature has authorized a tax increase to 7.5 percent that simply would need an up-or-down vote.

But Snow said the judgment of staff is that putting two proposals in front of the voters in November -- one for the $2 billion in sales taxes and another for the other elements of the tax plan -- would be confusing and could hurt their effort.

Snow tried to deflect some of the criticism that has already been leveled at the sales tax proposal. He said that sales taxes are low in Clark County compared to other state rates.

California has an 8.75 percent sales tax, Idaho and Utah have an 8 percent tax, Colorado and Washington have an 8.9 percent tax and Arizona's sales tax is over 10 percent, he said.

Some members of the Governor's Task Force on Tax Policy, which is charged with coming up with its own package of tax bill changes to fund education and health care, have expressed concern that the RTC proposal could affect their plans.

But the chairman of the task force is financial adviser Guy Hobbs, who also is a consultant to the RTC. Hobbs said last week that the tax increase may be justifiable.

One of the issues on the table before the task force is widening the sales tax base, which now has exemptions for services, groceries, utilities, prescription drugs and other purchases. Expanding the base of the tax also would raise the amount of money that the RTC would eventually receive.

Woodbury has said the tax could be adjusted if that happens.

"If this base is broadened, we'd be happy to accept a proportionate lessening of the tax," he said. "We're just looking for a total of $2.7 billion over 25 years."