Lawmaker files petition to restrict property tax

Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 | 9:55 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, says her property tax limitation plan is not tied to her run for the GOP nomination for Congress.

On Thursday Angle filed her initiative petition to amend the Nevada Constitution to restrict property tax bills from rising more than 2 percent per year.

Two years ago Angle failed to gather enough signatures to qualify the petition for the ballot. And it has been twice introduced in the Legislature by the four-term Assemblywoman and has never been approved.

Cliff Nellis, chairman of the We The People of Nevada political action committee, which is supporting the petition, said he doesn't foresee any trouble gathering the 83,184 signatures before the deadline June 20 next year.

If successful it would have to be approved by the voters in 2007 and 2009 before it became effective.

Andrew List, executive director of the Nevada Association of Counties, called the initiative "shortsighted." He said Nevada has some of the fastest growing counties in the United States.

"They would not be able to keep pace with growth," said List. Local governments, he said, would either have to reduce its public services such as police, fire and transportation, or find other sources of revenue.

Records of the association shows that 23 percent of the general fund revenue in Clark County comes from the property tax and 44 percent of the revenue in Washoe County is made up of the property tax. Storey County is the highest in the state, receiving 50 percent of its tax collections from the property tax.

List said this would also impact the schools that receive 75 cents from the property tax.

The Legislature this year imposed a 3 percent cap increase on property taxes for homeowners and an 8 percent for business. But Nellis said he expected the lawmakers to repeal that limitation.

UNR political scientist Eric Herzik said the Legislature "tried to head off the more drastic measures. Whether the voters want a harder cap remains to be seen."

Herzik said the success of the signature drive will depend on how well organized it is and if it has sufficient money.

In addition, he said, it will also depend on how local governments and politicians react -- whether they will jump on the bandwagon or hold the tax petition "at arms length."

The petition is similar to Proposition 13 that was approved by California voters to restrict higher property taxes.

Supporters of Angle told reporters Thursday people have been forced to sell their homes in Nevada because they could not afford the property taxes. Housing costs have risen significantly in Nevada because of the influx of new residents.

Nellis referred to the $833.5 million tax increase by the 2003 Legislature that he said was dominated by liberals. Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, helped fashion that increase. Nellis said Raggio was "more liberal than he should be."

While Angle said this petition has nothing to do with her congressional campaign, Nellis freely criticized Secretary of State Dean Heller, who is an election opponent of Angle in Congressional District 2.

Nellis said Heller worked to scuttle the initiative petition two years ago by interfering with the signature gathering process. He suggested this happened on the campus of UNLV. But at that time, Heller was urging state and local governments to allow those gathering the signatures access.

Nellis said Heller also asked the Legislature to change the law to make the petition gathering effort more difficult. He cited one law that gives persons who want to challenge the summary of the petition 30 days to file a contest.

Heller said he was not surprised at the comments of the Angle supporters and called them "cheap shots." He said, "I don't have to defend my office against people like that," he said.

Angle said she will allow the 30-day challenge deadline to pass before starting to gather signatures.

Angle and Nellis declined to say how much money has been raised. But Nellis said this would be a volunteer campaign. Donations have been received in as small amounts as $5, he said.

If eventually approved, the petition would also require a two-thirds vote to approve any bond issue, such as for construction of schools. At present only a majority vote is required.

The proposed constitutional amendment, if finally passed in 2009, also would return property values to the 2003-2004 level.

While the taxable value of the property would be limited, the value of the property would be adjusted upward after the home or business was sold. And the base value would be changed if there are improvements made.

The petition would also bar any new or additional taxes on the sale or transfer of real property. Last fiscal year the real property transfer tax yielded $148.7 million in revenue.