Property taxes have become hot political issue

Kirsten Searer

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 5:30 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

August 7 - 8, 2004

Property taxes have become the political rallying cry of this year's election, especially for Republicans running for the Legislature.

"The siren song of tax hikes appears to sound loudly in some of my colleagues' ears," said Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, who is challenging Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, in one of the more hotly contented primaries of the election season.

Rawson recently sent out a mail piece calling for a property tax cap set at the rate of inflation or 6 percent -- whichever is less. Now it's the latest issue the two men are battling over on the campaign trail.

They're not the only ones.

The property-tax debate was sparked in part because of Republican consultant Steve Wark, who spied an opportunity several months ago as he heard seniors complain that they might lose their homes due to rising property taxes.

Since then, Wark has encouraged his candidates to emphasize property tax caps on the stump and in campaign mailers.

Wark is working with Rawson, Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, R-Las Vegas, and Republican Assembly candidates Justin Doucette, Jon Petrick and Lynn Stewart.

Now other candidates are picking up on the trend, Wark said.

"Everybody gets on the bandwagon," Wark said. "Everybody wants to try to pose it in some way where their idea is better than their opponent's."

Wark said he's still unsure which is the best proposal, but he understands that "whether it's in the primary or the general election, the whole idea is to try to get the upper hand on any issue."

The issue might be wildly popular with voters, but the complicated nature of the property tax debate -- it involves some confusing calculations -- makes it difficult for politicians to explain their differences.

"If you get into too much detail, everyone's eyes glaze over like they do with every other tax issue," said Doucette, who is running for Assembly District 4.

It's complicated by the tax increases of last legislative session. While there were tax hikes, they didn't affect the property tax increases people are seeing on their bills now, Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, noted.

"We fought very hard to make sure there wasn't an increase on property taxes or on sales taxes," she said.

Titus, along with Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, have both called for property tax caps and said they would start with a 6 percent cap and work their way down as they look at the numbers.

Doucette said he doesn't leave home without his information on property tax caps, which he said he supports.

Doucette, however, worries that the issue will be politicized and that "candidates are going to start one-upping each other."

One-upmanship is already taking place in the GOP primary for Senate District 5, where longtime Las Vegas Sen. Ann O'Connell called for a special legislative session to discuss a proposed 6-percent property-tax cap.

Her major primary challenger, Joe Heck, issued a press release and mailed fliers asserting that 6 percent is too much.

Republican consultant and Heck backer Sig Rogich said he thinks voters have made it clear that they want special sessions only in case of emergencies.

"The same people who are now calling for special sessions are only doing so at a time that it's politically expedient," he said.

Titus, likewise, called the idea of a special session a political maneuver, and Gov. Kenny Guinn rejected the idea, saying it could be handled in the 2005 Legislature.

"I think that's definitely what Ann O'Connell's doing," Titus said. "She's facing a tough primary where both candidates are trying to be more conservative than the other."

O'Connell argued that the issue must be resolved before governments set their budgets and it's too late to put a plan in place.

Beers said he thinks the interest in a special session came "because everybody just got their property tax bill."

And property taxes will be an issue in his race.

He criticized Rawson's efforts to cap the taxes at the rate of inflation, saying inflation can skyrocket.

He also criticized Rawson for voting for two 1-cent property tax increases last session -- one a tax for state conservation efforts, the other for transportation projects in Clark County. Both measures were first approved by voters.

"I'm running against a guy who last year voted to increase property taxes and just sent out a mailer saying we should cap them," Beers said.

Rawson counters that voters had supported those increases. And he said his idea for a property tax cap, which he is putting into a bill, would cap taxes at 6 percent should inflation increase dramatically.

He pointed to recent legislation he has supported that would exempt from property taxes low-income seniors, surviving spouses and owners who make energy-saving improvements.

"These are innovative tax proposals that are all designed to give relief," he said. "I've got a pretty definite history on that."

The heated rhetoric could continue until Election Day. Some argue that's why legislators should wait to find a solution to the problem.

"There has to be fairness and reasonableness and not just knee-jerk legislation at election time," Rogich said.

Seniors and young families struggling to own a home could prove especially vocal in this debate, political watchers said.

In Assembly District 10, where there is a sizeable senior population, Republican assembly candidate Rex Wilhoite recently sent out a mail piece calling for tax reform and listing property taxes as one main problem.

"I've talked to some seniors, particularly ones who live in manufactured homes," Wilhoite said. "They're very concerned about it because they're all on fixed incomes and get rent increases."

Republican Assembly candidate Ed Gobel, another candidate locked in a tough primary, also has called for a cap set at inflation.

"That's what everybody's fixed income is based on," he said.

Political consultant Jim Ferrence, whose candidates this year include Doucette and Heck, said he tells candidates to talk about the issues they hear when they knock on doors.

"Right now, other than growth, that's the only thing people want to talk about with these candidates," Ferrence said.

"The more candidates and incumbents talk about it, the better," Doucette said. "I'm much happier now that everyone's talking about it. It's in the paper every day."