Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 | 11:12 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins opened the 2005 legislative session Monday with a proposal to give all property owners a reduction in their property tax bills.
Calling the idea a starting point for the upcoming debate on property taxes, Perkins proposed a $50,000 reduction in the value of every piece of property taxed. Under his plan, a home assessed at $250,000, for example, would pay taxes based on a value of $200,000.
"This formula will not adversely impact local governments, but it will provide relief for Nevadans like our seniors and young families just trying to get it started," Perkins said.
Local governments have asked the Legislature to find a solution to property tax increases before the end of March so they can plan their budgets. A joint committee between the Assembly and Senate is set to convene today to begin work on a property tax relief plan.
Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, previously proposed her own plan: capping property values at the 2004 level as a temporary fix so the Legislature could work out a permanent solution to the problem.
Perkins' proposal for the $50,000 reductions in taxable values provides yet another point of competition with Titus.
Perkins has expressed interest in running for governor in 2006, as has Titus. On Monday, when introducing her guests to other members of the Senate, a customary first-day event, Titus cracked that she wasn't going to give the "gubernatorial speech that was given down the hall," like Perkins did.
Perkins also appeared to be trying to win support from Republicans. He started his speech with a frank assessment of what legislators did wrong in 2003, when they grappled with a massive tax increase.
"We made the joint mistake of false pride and misplaced loyalty," Perkins said. "We, all of us -- myself included -- allowed ourselves to get sucked into behavior that not only delayed action, it demeaned the institution we serve."
The nod to Republicans was received warmly in the Assembly chamber, especially by those he specifically pointed out: Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville; Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko; and Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain. Perkins said he respects the legislators but didn't always show it in the last session.
"There's a lot of apologies that we owe each other," Carpenter said. "Hopefully at the end of the session we'll have hugs and kisses and handshakes."
Hettrick said he appreciated Perkins reaching out to Republicans with whom there had been sharp disagreement during the 2003 tax debate. But he called Perkins' plan for a $50,000 exemption a non-starter, saying it would cripple rural counties where property values are lower and a $50,000 exemption would significantly cut revenues to rural counties.
Also, a $50,000 exemption won't do much for homeowners such as the ones in Lake Tahoe, who are seeing their property tax bills surge by 300 percent, Hettrick said.
Hettrick said he hasn't endorsed a specific plan yet, but thinks some sort of cap on assessments -- such as Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield's plan to cap assessments at 6 percent -- is the best idea.
While some local governments have openly worried about the cuts to their revenue because of a cap, Hettrick said property taxes should still provide enough revenue.
"I don't see why a county government or any other government needs to grow more than 6 percent a year," he said.
In his unusually specific opening remarks to the Assembly, Perkins also proposed a $250,000 life insurance policy for all active duty Nevada National Guard members and a break on sales taxes for families of Guard members on active duty.
The life insurance policies wouldn't cost very much, probably about $20 per month for each of Nevada's roughly 11,000 Guard members, Perkins said.
And he said Guard families could carry some sort of ID card to notify merchants they shouldn't be charged sales tax when making purchases.
Also in his speech, Perkins pointed to studies showing that teachers spend an average of $500 a year of their own money on school supplies. He proposed giving each Nevada teacher $500 in the first year of the budget.
"It's a short-term answer, I know," he said. "But it's a step in the right direction."
Perkins also highlighted the Democratic agenda already announced, including a push to raise the minimum wage immediately, initiate a state lottery for education, overhaul state ethics laws and oppose buying bonds to fund the Millennium Scholarship program, as state Treasurer Brian Krolicki had suggested.
Perkins and other legislative leaders, including Hettrick, said they would rather fortify the scholarship now, when the state has surplus money, than to buy bonds.
Perkins' equivalent in the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, gave brief remarks to open the Senate on Monday, stressing that he wanted senators to show up on time for committee hearings and work together this session.
As a first order of business, legislators in both houses passed a $10 million bill to fund the session. In total, the session is expected to cost between $17 and $18 million.
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