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November 15, 2009

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Letter: Use state surplus to fund freeze on property tax

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2005 | 9:06 a.m.

Regarding Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposal to return a $300 million surplus to the taxpayers by sending out car registration rebates: Not everyone, or even every family, owns a vehicle.

Everyone, however, pays property taxes -- either through direct ownership or indirectly via rent payments. The biggest objection to state Sen. Dina Titus' plan, which is to freeze property taxes for a year at their current level and use the time to settle on property-tax plan agreeable to most legislators, is the purported loss of tax revenue during that one year. I believe that in Clark County the expected property tax revenue increase, at least for budgetary purposes, was somewhere around 5 percent.

I say use some or all of the current $300 million tax surplus to shore up any temporary revenue shortfall during this proposed property tax freeze. This should be an easy sell to the voters. If there is enough tax surplus to go around, split the difference. Fund a property tax bridge and cap a vehicle registration tax refund. Everyone wins.

RICHARD RYCHTARIK

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