Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004 | 8:55 a.m.
Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield has proposed a property tax cap of 6 percent a year. Why 6 percent? Is this a magic number? What is the significance of 6 percent? Perhaps this is just a trial balloon. Clearly, we all know the operating costs of local governments here are not determined by the increase in the value of property.
What seems to be more rational is pegging any increase to some well-defined national benchmark. I know county employees would like to see their pay increased by 6 percent every year, but so would all non-government workers.
In a high-growth environment like Las Vegas, the 6 percent "cap" really becomes a mandatory annual increase. This proposed cap, a doubling of your property tax every 12 years, only becomes acceptable when the annual increase is first determined by a national index like the average cost of living or inflation. Here a 6 percent cap becomes a "not exceed" amount, not a mandatory amount.
In any event, let's hope that property values here continue to rise, or heaven knows what draconian new law the Clark County assessor would propose to offset declining revenues.
RICHARD RYCHTARIK
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