Property tax hike proposed to aid homeless

Adrienne Packer

Monday, May 20, 2002 | 11:19 a.m.

Members of a regional task force dealing with homelessness will consider today a one-cent property tax increase that would generate $4 million a year.

The Homelessness Task Force of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition today will decide whether to recommend an advisory question on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.

"We've heard the government side and we've heard the homeless advocate side, but we haven't heard from the general public," said Douglas Bell, the county's community resources management director. "We should give voters an opportunity to weigh in on this issue."

If voters approve the tax increase and the next Legislature agrees, the measure would add one cent per $100 of assessed valuation to the property tax rate.

On a home worth $100,000, that would add about $3.50 a year to the tax bill.

If the task force endorses the plan, the planning coalition would have to approve it, as would the County Commission and the local City Councils, before it appears on the ballot. If voters pass it, the Legislature would have to approve the proposed tax increase.

The money would go to a trust fund to be established this year with the hopes of creating a steady resource for programs and nonprofit service providers.

The fund will also be used as a source to match other grants or loans. County and city officials have long argued over how much each entity has and should contribute to nonprofit agencies that run shelters.

In the past five years Las Vegas and Clark County each has invested about $11 million in homeless programs, using federal and state grants and their general funds.

In a letter asking for Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's support of the ballot question, Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, fewer private donors are contributing to nonprofit organizations.

"Local governments in Clark County have responded by allocating yet more funds, but the issue of the homeless continues to strain budgets and compete with other needs," Atkinson Gates wrote.

Bell said voters should be allowed to chime in on the issue and decide as a community how the homeless issue should be handled.

"If you believe in a democracy, the public is where we go for direction," Bell said. "I think there is a lot to be said for a democracy."

The homeless task force, a Regional Planning Coalition committee, has yet to decide who will oversee the trust fund. Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny said elected officials should control the funds because they are held accountable and have the public's trust.