Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Poll that shows support for tax freeze faces criticism

An overwhelming percentage of Nevadans polled recently by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce support measures to stop or slow recent jumps in property taxes, but some researchers question the chamber's survey sample.

In the poll of 488 registered Nevada voters, 77.4 percent of those responding said it was "extremely important" for lawmakers to pass legislation to limit property tax increases.

Those responding to the poll -- conducted by the Chamber's own Center for Polling and Research -- also supported at a rate of 80.6 percent measures to reduce taxes raised in 2003 that "have raised more money than expected."

The demographic makeup of the poll's respondents, however, seemed curious to Jim Medick, chief executive of MRCGroup Research Institute, a Las Vegas-based market research firm. MRCGroup was not involved in the Chamber's survey.

Of those participating in the survey, 89.6 percent own their own home, and more than 50 percent participating reported an annual household income of at least $51,000. More than 12 percent had a household income of more than $100,000.

"Those numbers just don't make sense," Medick said.

In the Las Vegas metropolitan area, the homeownership rate is 65.9 percent and the median annual household income is $44,307, according to figures from the 2004 Las Vegas Perspective and posted on the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association Web site.

The demographic sampling of the Chamber's poll could skew the results, said Keith Schwer, a UNLV economist and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research.

"Other things being equal, that would be right," he said. "Homeownership is going to be the big thing (when considering property taxes). Probably if you are low income and own a home it's even more important."

Kara Kelley, president of the Las Vegas Chamber, said there was no attempt made to stack the deck in terms of participants.

"This was a completely random poll, so we did not filter for any of those things," she said. "We did poll registered voters. You probably could make some nexus between homeownership and household income with registered voters. But I don't know that for a fact.

"We weren't looking for this mix."

Cara Roberts, a spokeswoman for the Chamber, said the only goal in sampling was to "make sure it was pretty even between men and women and political affiliation."

The goal, Kelley and Roberts said, was to quantify the concerns of the public.

"The more information we have ... the more credibility we have in advocating to lawmakers," Roberts said.

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, pointed to the survey results that indicated 73 percent support for a freeze on assessed valuation this year, followed by an increase of no more than the inflation rate next year. That plan would give lawmakers two years to craft a permanent solution.

"I think there's great support for a freeze," Titus said. "I think it's simple and people want some certainty for what these measures do."

In fact, all measures to limit property tax increases drew strong support.

Other plans include splitting rolls that could tax at different rates owner-occupied property and investment property. More than 62 percent supported that plan.

Kelley said such a plan could have disastrous implications for businesses.

"We vehemently, vehemently are opposed to a split roll," she said, adding that it opens up the door for businesses shouldering an increased tax burden. "We absolutely believe all property should be taxed equally."

Kelley said business leaders and owners should be careful not to damage their businesses in order to keep their household bills under control.

"What we really caution the business community about is being aware that they may want to keep their homeowners tax reduced, but I would caution to be careful what you wish for," she said.

More than 62 percent also supported a plan similar to California's Proposition 13 plan, placing a 2 percent annual cap on increases, but recalculating assessed value when the property is sold.

Again, more than 62 percent supported lowering the tax rates to offset the increases in property values.

Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, said the overall support for the varying property tax proposals as well as the displeasure in the 2003 levies indicates taxpayer hostility.

"They appear to be angry about what we did two years ago," Beers said. "And with property taxes on top of it. ... There's really no justification for governments to increase revenue like this."

He said that the current budget proposal includes a 19 percent increase in spending while the population increase is only projected at 12 percent over the next two years.

"Once again we are increasing government faster than the society that we are supposed to serve," Beers said.

When asked to compare the plans, 35.2 percent favored the Proposition 13-style plan, 21.8 percent favored the temporary freeze, 14.5 percent favored lowering the tax rate, 11.5 percent favored split rolls, 11.5 percent favored an assessed value cap and 6.1 said the property tax system should not be changed.

Kelley said the Proposition 13-style plan could be favored because of the familiarity Nevada's California transplants have with it.

"Sometimes people look to go with what they are familiar," she said.

In questions about the 2003 tax increases passed by the Legislature, 43.9 percent said lawmakers did the wrong thing, 35.7 percent said lawmakers should have cut the budget and levied fewer new taxes and 14.8 percent said the Legislature did the right thing.

Also, 56.3 percent of survey participants supported a proposal to return part of an estimated $300 million state budget surplus through a $300 per vehicle registration rebate.

Neither Titus or Beers expressed concern over the demographic makeup of the group polled by the Chamber.

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