Quarter-cent sales tax to stay through 2021

By Joe Schoenmann

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 | 3:20 p.m.

A quarter-cent sales tax on water-serving customers in Southern Nevada will continue until at least 2021.

Without the tax, every water customer in Southern Nevada would see a 350 percent increase in their “regional commodity charge,” from 10 cents per thousand gallons to 45 cents, said Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

“Or we’d stop the third intake,” Mulroy said, referring to a third massive pipeline being dug at Lake Mead. The third intake is lower than the other two, which is becoming a necessity as the lake level drops.

Mulroy made a “convincing case” to continue the quarter-cent tax, which was approved by the county commission in December 1998.

To date, the tax has raised more than $665 million. The money has been used on numerous construction projects, including 11 erosion control structures, rural wastewater systems and treatment facilities.

When the Legislature permitted the levying of the tax, it did so with a provision: that it would sunset when the amount raised reached $2.3 billion, or June 30, 2025, whichever came first. Mulroy said projections show the $2.3 billion will be reached in 2021.

Joe Schoenmann can be reached at 259-4090 or at [email protected].