Rapid growth topic in Montandon talk

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon was expected to highlight the rapid residential and business growth of his city during his annual State of City address today, according to an outline of his speech.

What was not in the outline was whether the mayor would discuss the city's tight budget projections that could prompt the City Council to raise property taxes or possible increases to city business license fees. Montandon could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

However, Montandon was expected to share his concerns about state legislators possibly changing the level of consolidated tax or property tax revenues sent to the city.

The mayor would also talk about some positive financial trends, according to the speech outline.

For example, the assessed value of property in the city, to which property tax revenue is tied, increased 259 percent since 1993 and is now at almost $2.5 billion.

Also, the number of business licenses has increased almost 35 percent since 1997, and is currently at 7,329, according to city documents.

The seventh annual North Las Vegas State of the City was scheduled to run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at Texas Station.

City spokeswoman Brenda Johnson said the mayor's speech would focus on "how North Las Vegas is benefiting from growth and future growth and attracting developers and new residents alike."

Between 1990 and 2000 North Las Vegas was the fifth fastest growing city with a population over 100,000 in the country, sustaining an average growth rate of 9.3 percent a year over the past 12 years. During that time, the city's population went from under 50,000 to almost 140,000.

And the city is poised for continued growth, with the build-out of the Aliante master-planned community in the north, and the eventual availability of 8,000 undeveloped federally-owned acres also in the north that could accommodate homes for another 90,000 people. The Greenspun family, who own the Las Vegas Sun, are partners in the Aliante development.

Staying with the development theme, the mayor is expected to talk about the Cheyenne Technology Corridor. Established in May, city leaders hope this stretch of Cheyenne Avenue from the North Las Vegas Airport to the Community College of Southern Nevada will draw industry with its high-tech infrastructure such as fiber optics.

On the redevelopment front, the mayor will list several new laws and programs including a law that holds businesses responsible for keeping their shopping carts on their property and a program under which the city matches private investment in facade renovations, according to the outline of the speech.