Battle brews over sales tax hike

Friday, May 28, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald said Thursday she is likely to support a ballot initiative on a proposed sales tax increase for more police.

The advisory question would appear on the November ballot if, as expected, the County Commission approves the initiative. The question would ask voters if they support a quarter-cent increase in sales taxes for the first four years, then a half-cent increase after that. The Legislature would have to enact the move.

Boggs McDonald was the sole member of the five-person Metro Police fiscal affairs board who voted against sending the ballot initiative to the County Commission to be placed on the ballot. Boggs McDonald, whom Gov. Kenny Guinn appointed to the commission last month after Mark James resigned, said her support for the measure on Tuesday would not represent a reversal.

"The question that I voted on at Metro fiscal affairs was whether to forward it to the County Commission," she said. "I have no problem having an advisory question that goes to the voters."

Assemblyman David Goldwater, a potential Democratic opponent to Republican Boggs McDonald in the November election, disagreed with her assessment.

"It's clearly a flip-flop," he said. "She went out, took a position for something and now she's switching."

Goldwater said he strongly supports Sheriff Bill Young's recommendation for a sales tax increase to fund more police. About a third of the sales taxes come from tourists, he noted, which makes it preferable to a property tax increase.

Boggs McDonald said Young, who asked for the ballot initiative, failed to provide information on how the money from the sales tax would be distributed and how it would avoid problems arising from the volatility of sales taxes as a revenue source.

She said she wants to ensure that any money for new officers goes to where it is needed, particularly in the fast-growing parts of the county such as her district. Boggs McDonald also said it would be important to estimate the future growth of the sales tax revenue accurately so that the tax fully pays for the salaries and benefits of new officers.

"I really want to know what I am getting for my dollars," Boggs McDonald said.

George Stevens, Clark County finance director, will try to answer some of those questions before the Tuesday vote. He said the county generally uses a conservative revenue estimate that is pegged to the average annual growth in sales taxes, about 5.7 percent.

He noted that the growth in sales taxes now is more than 10 percent, but that is not used to estimate revenue during the budget-writing process.

Stevens said questions about how new revenue would be distributed for the hiring of new police would have to be decided by the Legislature, if the ballot measure goes to the session next year.

"There's nothing in the ballot question that talks about the money being distributed," he said.

Clark County's sales tax is 7.5 percent, so under the Metro proposal it would rise to 7.75 percent for the first four years and then would rise to 8 percent.

Young says he needs the money for more police because crime has increased 25 percent over the past two years. Controlling crime means putting more officers on the street, he argues.

The ballot question -- if not the sales tax hike itself -- appears to have strong support among Boggs McDonald's colleagues on the commission.

"Of course I'm going to support it," Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said. "This town is growing by leaps and bounds and we need more police. Public safety is a critical issue for this valley.

"If there are questions that need to be answered, I'm sure those questions can be answered," Atkinson Gates said. "The more police, the safer people can feel."

Commission Bruce Woodbury, like Boggs McDonald a Republican, is a veteran of several successful tax initiatives for transportation, flood control and new water-delivery infrastructure.

"The sheriff should have a right to take his case to the voters," he said. "This is not something that should be imposed by the county or the Legislature. ... I'll be voting to put it on the ballot."

Woodbury said he sees the need for more officers, but is not yet ready to endorse the ballot question.

"I'll make that decision later, when I see what kind of case is made for the sales tax," he said. He noted that the voters are wary of tax increases of any kind.

"It's not easy," Woodbury said. "You have to convince the voters that it will be for a specific use, that the need is significant, that it is affordable.

"It's definitely a tough sell," he said.