BALLOT QUESTION: POLICE FUNDING

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 1:36 a.m.

Local law enforcement officials want to raise sales taxes to put more police on the streets, but not everyone thinks a tax increase is the best course of action.

The ballot question will ask voters to approve a 1/4 cent increase that would start in July. A second 1/4 cent increase would begin in July 2009. The total increase would be a 1/2 cent, bringing the sales tax rate to 8 percent.

If the question gets enough votes, Sheriff Bill Young -- the chief advocate of the initiative -- said he would ask the Legislature next year to raise the tax.

Tax revenue would pay for more police officers for Metro, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite police departments.

All are below the national average of 2.5 officers per 1,000 citizens, authorities said.

Metro has 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, North Las Vegas has 1.4, Henderson 1.1, Mesquite 1.3 and Boulder City 1.9.

The revenue in the first 10 years would be sufficient to hire and equip 1,278 Metro officers, 227 in Henderson, 151 in North Las Vegas, 16 in Boulder City and 14 in Mesquite.

Young has said the immense growth in the Las Vegas Valley has outpaced the growth of the police departments.

Instead of spending time preventing crime by patrolling neighborhoods and getting acquainted with residents, officers spend their shifts running from call to call to investigate crimes that have already occurred, he said.

The time it takes for police to get to a crime scene has also increased, proponents say. Response times in Henderson are nine to 12 minutes and Metro's are eight to nine minutes.

In Metro's jurisdiction, there was a 2 percent increase in violent crime and a 20.3 percent increase in property crime in 2003, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report.

In 2003 Metro, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Mesquite police responded to 175 murders, 688 rapes, 4,396 robberies, 15,995 burglaries, 36,641 vehicle collisions and 17,914 car thefts.

Advocates say raising sales taxes will mean tourists will also pay for more police officers.

But opponents point out that growth should pay for itself.

About 6,000 people move into Clark County every month, and construction of homes and commercial properties increases the property-tax base every year.

Property taxes generated from the growth will be greater than those generated from sales tax, opponents say.

If the sales-tax increase was to be approved, then Clark County would have the highest sales tax in the state, opponents say. The buyer of a $20,000 vehicle would be required to pay $1,600 in sales tax.

At first Young considered seeking a property-tax increase, but he wasn't encouraged by Henderson's experience in 2000 and 2001. Voters rejected the initiative that sought to raise property taxes both times.

However, Henderson Police Chief Michael Mayberry said he thinks residents are convinced now that more police officers are needed.

Property crime increased 6.8 percent in 2003, according to the FBI report. But it also shows violent crime was down 6.6 percent.

North Las Vegas had a 10.5 percent decrease in its violent crime and only a 0.6 percent increase in the property crime, the FBI report says.

However, advocates of the initiative say that not everyone living in Clark County owns a home, and the revenue from growth and property taxes would not be adequate or timely enough to hire and train the needed officers.