Print
E-mail
Share
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterLawmakers eye county dough
They’re likely to raid property taxes to help fill budget hole
cathleen allison / nevada appeal file
Nevada lawmakers, from left, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, both D-Las Vegas, Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert and Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, have all said the state’s economic crisis is worse than expected.
Thursday, April 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Document
Sun Archives
- Local battles on teacher pay cuts will follow action in Carson City (4-20-2009)
- Professor: Consider short-term borrowing (4-19-2009)
- Team Gibbons unveils new motto (4-17-2009)
- Ensign weighs in on state's budget woes (4-16-2009)
- Solar tax break in bill might burn budget (4-16-2009)
- Deadlines looming, decisions stay secret (4-15-2009)
- Nation's leader in budget pain (4-15-2009)
Sun Coverage
Carson City — As recently as February legislators panned Gov. Jim Gibbons’ proposal to balance the state budget by taking property tax money from Clark and Washoe counties. The idea was evidence of an ill-considered and hastily assembled spending plan, they said.
Now it appears the same lawmakers who criticized the proposal will approve a bill to carry out Gibbons’ plan to take the county funding.
“It’s not over yet, but we’re probably going to include it,” said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, and a top lieutenant of Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas.
“Given the current budget situation, I don’t think there’s any way to avoid it,” said Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno.
Assembly Bill 543, introduced this week, would take about $64 million in property tax revenue away from Clark County and $12 million from Washoe County over the next two years, according to Jeff Fontaine, executive director of the Nevada Association of Counties.
“Everything is on the table,” said Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas. “We’re talking with county representatives about other options we could give them.”
That the idea remains alive speaks to the dire financial situation lawmakers confront as they debate the budget. Proposals in the governor’s budget once called unpalatable — pay cuts for state workers, further cuts in K-12 education funding — remain in play.
The shortfall to fund state government at levels approved by the 2007 Legislature is $2.8 billion, according to the Gibbons administration. That number is likely to grow after a meeting Friday of the state’s Economic Forum, which sets the revenue forecasts that elected officials must abide by in approving a budget.
In committee hearings, legislators from both parties have bludgeoned the governor’s budget — and his staff — over the way Gibbons balanced the budget through a combination of large cuts, a room tax increase and taking money from county governments.
Legislators have voted to restore some of the cuts. But each of the governor’s cuts they undo requires that they raise additional revenue or make cuts elsewhere. Taking the money from counties limits the additional cuts and tax increases.
“We’re desperate,” Leslie said. “The gap is already huge.”
The proposal has Clark County and its lobbyists sweating.
Fontaine, with the Nevada Association of Counties, said the state is going after county revenue in other ways. Lawmakers want to take $56 million from the fund for indigent patients used to reimburse county hospitals for treating the uninsured. They are also looking to take another $11 million for “administrative costs” to collect the sales tax.
Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine said the county doesn’t have a plan to make up for lost property tax revenue should lawmakers include it in the budget.
She said the county is facing a $56 million shortfall. “If the state takes additional revenues from the county, we will be forced to cut services and the personnel associated with those services,” she said.
One possible option for the counties is, for now, no longer available. Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, had a bill this session that would have given counties the power to raise taxes.
The bill died, but legislative sources said the proposal could be resurrected.
Sun reporter Joe Schoenmann contributed to this story.
Discussion: 28 comments so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Shooting in parking lot of CVS leaves man dead
- Man, 26, dies in collision with truck traveling at 100 mph
- Holiday shoppers skip turkey for Strip stores
- Nevada’s just not for us, many top high schoolers say
- Casino venue in Singapore will have Las Vegas flavor
- CityCenter completion might spur home foreclosures
- Fontainebleau retail component seeks bankruptcy
- MGM Mirage: CityCenter not affected by debt woes
- Holiday Auction 2009 items
- Real estate experts cautiously optimistic about market
Blogs
The Kats Report
Could a savior of shuttered Las Vegas Art Museum be ... Peter Max? (5 Comments)
For Paul Stanley and KISS, rock and roll is not over (4 Comments)
Twenty years ago today, Human Nature took root on the farm (1 Comment)
Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch
Photo Gallery: Donny Osmond’s triumphant return to the Flamingo
The Kats Report
'DWTS' champ Donny Osmond still deft afoot in return to Flamingo (8 Comments)
Politics: The Early Line
Meeting of GOP governors draws challengers, not Gibbons (5 Comments)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Oscar loves forcing developers to sign labor peace agreements, Culinary loves the city's downtown plans and all is forgiven (10 Comments)
Calendar »
- 28 Sat
- 29 Sun
- 30 Mon
- 1 Tue
- 2 Wed
-
KISS at the Pearl
The Pearl at the Palms
-
Christopher "Kid" Reid at the LA Comedy Club
LA Comedy Club @ Trader Vic's
-
Stevie Wonder at MGM Grand
MGM Grand Garden Arena | 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
UNLV Rebels vs. Louisville at the Thomas & Mack Center
The Thomas & Mack Center | 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
-
Joe Perry Project at the House of Blues
House of Blues | 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Vicente Fernandez at the Mandalay Bay Events Center
Mandalay Bay Events Center | 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
Jay Leno at The Mirage
Terry Fator Theatre
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
I was of the impression, from all the brilliance coming from the party leaders in charge of the legislature that the Governor didn't have a clue and that they would solve everything. Although they haven't exactly been as transparent as we were told they were going to be, coming from behind the closed door meetings they've been holding, it sounds like they plan to solve things by doing what the Governor had proposed and are hoping, after another round of massive tax increases to be able to get back to the point of funding a budget that they said wasn't acceptable. Have I missed something?
It seems the Governor was the ONLY one willing to face the reality of this situation early and recommend real solutions. Now, after all the posturing and political positioning, the rest of Nevada is realizing what he could see.
This is going to be a long deep depression in Nevada and the federal government is hurting our economy not helping.
The shortfall was unexpected?
One good result of this money mayhem is that with the county taking property tax money, it will starve the beast, namely the City of Henderson's overpaid, underworked employees. I was at a Food for Less yesterday, and there was:
1 paramedic ambulance
1 giant fire truck
2 Tahoe cop vehicles
1 regular cop cruiser
Now granted, somebody may have fallen ill-I could not tell, as nothing was happening. No fire, no nothing. But does it take this many vehicles to assist someone who may have fallen down, and couldn't get up? No, it doesn't, but when you have nothing to do in a relatively placid town, it must be great to meet up with your buds, shoot the sh*t, and kill time together.
Plus I'm sure they each wrote a report to legitimize their time.
Kill the body, and the head dies. And the sooner, the better....
For the past four sessions our Legislature has needed to manifest the leadership that they have all campaigned on. Nevada is in dire privation. We need a comprehensive tax policy that will propel Nevada's tax revenue into the 21st century. Instead what get once again is a bandage on a bleeding budget. I was under the impression that Nevada's Legislature was seasoned, experienced and had a plan for the future of our state.
"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision."(Helen Keller)
Again the answer is quite simple. (1) do away with the State Division of Investigation - let the counties existing law enforcement handle crimes; (2) do away with the State Ag department; (3) consolidate the community colleges; (4) do away with duplicate programs at the two universities; (5) do away with half of the athletics at the universities; (6) privitize the department of parole and probation; (7) consolidate city and county law enforcement througout the state. (8) If necessary consolidate the number of counties in the State to 4 or 5. (9) reduce the number of judges in the rural judicial districts to one judge per district.
No more money...LOL; dismantle the LVCA, stop redevelopment authority to spend tax money on projects that are narcissistic, end the city marshals (park police), cease the airport's expansions including the Primm project, the list is endless........not enough money to spend like drunks (Oscar?).
"One good result of this money mayhem is that with the county taking property tax money, it will starve the beast, namely the City of Henderson's overpaid, underworked employees. I was at a Food for Less yesterday, and there was:
1 paramedic ambulance
1 giant fire truck
2 Tahoe cop vehicles
1 regular cop cruiser"
______________________________________
First it is the state taking the money, not the County.
Second, when services and labor gets cut, it will not be from the police or fire so look to these entities in both the County and Henderson to remain bloated and overpaid. Instead you will see community centers closed, potholes not filled, not enough social service workers and less safety inspections.
The State cannot balance their budget so they go and look to balance it off all the other entities. The County deficit of 56 million will now double and this does not include the extra bleeding from the UMC which is also increasing.
Because the overpaid and unwilling to take a pay cut 6 figure firefighters will not help, you will see layoffs and this will occur at the lower newer worker levels.
So you will layoffs in the Community Centers, Parks Services, safety inspectors, road repair crews (extending the repair times), and other every day departments that handle the things you need.
Meanwhile the Gov staff will remain overpaid and agencies in the state that do absolutely nothing for the people of Las Vegas will continue on.
No more money...LOL; dismantle the LVCA, stop redevelopment authority to spend tax money on projects that are narcissistic, end the city marshals (park police), cease the airport's expansions including the Primm project, the list is endless........not enough money to spend like drunks (Oscar?).
______________________________
I am not sure if everyone gets this....it is the STATE that is taking the money. Reducing things at City levels will not reduce what the STATE is taking.
It seems the Governor was the ONLY one willing to face the reality of this situation early and recommend real solutions. Now, after all the posturing and political positioning, the rest of Nevada is realizing what he could see.
________________________________
The Gov is not see c**p. Rather than cut things at the State level, they are going to take money from everyone else to keep their budget running.
http://npri.org/publications/legislature...
The state increased the budget 42.2 percent in 2005-07. The 17 percent increase they want now is to "maintain" that growth.
This whole problem can be solved without going back to the people who have retired here or taking money from people working here... . It is a three year program that would solve the short fall and stop the free fall of the mortgage values in homes that are adding to the deficit.
First year; Add a state home building permit fee of $50,000 per new home = the state would receive about $250,000,000 this year in additional funds. (5,000 homes X $50,000= $250,000,000) Why shouldn't the new people moving here pay the cost and not those that already live here.
Second year: Offer a $25,000 per home credit for any builder paying prevailing wages to all the labor working on the home. This would help the construction industry workers and feed local businesses and the spending would help generate sales tax for the state in the future years.
Third year; Redirect the remaining $25,000 per home to the counties were each permit is pulled.
Pros:
The mortgage rate would stop falling and the taxes on exiting properties would go back up in the next few years. So the collections would be able to meet the needs.
Wages in the second largest industry in southern Nevada would be an integral part of the tax base for the future. [I have never understood how lowing wages will help an economy driven by a spending tax]
Less homes would be built which would ease our future water problems. And we do have a real water problem that is going to cripple Clark County unless home building is curbed.
Homes built under prevailing wages would improve the quality of construction by using people who have been trained and the defect litigation cases would be solved.
Prevailing wages demand medical benefits to be paid to the workers and this would reduce the cost at government medical facilities by non insured patience.
Better paying jobs reduces the need for more police, which would also allow the cities and counties to give back raises that have been surrendered by these workers in today's economical condition instead of needing to hire more officers.
The budget needs a flow of cash this year... let the newbies pay for it..
besides it was the home building industry's unbridled growth and profiteering that cause government agencies to grow
CONS:
The builders would not be able to rape the state as they have been in the last ten years. All we are asking them to do is take some of those profits and put them back into the state, counties and cities in direct proportion to the growth they have caused. [builders pat themselves on the back when they donate a fire station to a city or county that cost $600,000 dollars to build ... and then laugh as they know it will cost the public $1,000,000 dollars a year to operate the facility]
EVEN WITH THE $50,000 DOLLAR INCREASE THEY WILL STILL MAKE OVER 30% PROFITS ON EACH HOUSE... WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN THEY THOUGHT A 12% PROFIT WAS FANTASTIC?
Also, creating a "broad based tax" does net you more "revenue" for the state but it does not stop shortfalls. States with no income tax not only had smaller shortfalls but were less likely to face a shortfall in 2008. http://npri.org/publications/the-broadba...
Furthermore, the corporate income tax, which some want, is considered by many to be the most volatile of tax sources for government. If you're goal was a stable tax base you would avoid a corporate tax. If your goal is simply to spend more money then it works just fine. Lets be honest, raising taxes is simply about spending more money, not preventing future budgetary shortfalls.
FYI
The home builders have profited about $2,000,000,000 (two billion) each year for the last ten years.
If the state would have been charging the home builders only $5,000 dollars per home for a state permit they would have collected $100 million per year and this would have been the silver state....blessed to take care of everyone... and not on the backs of the gaming industry..
but republicans would say how could we do that to the home building industry.. the poor boys would have only made 1.9 billion per year.... what a shame...poor builders...
give me a break... tax the SOB's making ungodly profits ... not the workers who can barely pay the mortgages today..
Ungodly profits are what create jobs and push resources to their most highly valued use in society.
We don't need new taxes; we need a government that is fiscally responsible, accountable, and subject to competitive pressures.
General fund tax revenue for the next two years will be essentially identical to tax revenues the 2003 legislature spent, so says the governor's office web site. Nevada is going to hit 2013 spending what it did in 2003. And we start at 49th lowest tax burden, according to the Tax Foundation, and 47th in government spending per capita.
prices are 16% higher
there are more students in K-12 and in college
there are more people in need of medical care help
gold is $900 an ounce, and the ungodly profits from nevada's gold are creating jobs in other states and countries, not here
homebuilders created jobs in other states with the profits they earned here
wal-mart pays incredibly low taxes here, and takes them elsewhere
banks in this state pay virtually no taxes, and take the money elsewhere
the state does not need an income tax or a profits tax. it needs to balance more responsible spending with ensuring that everyone who benefits from our economy contributes to our economy.
if you don't believe me, watch steve wynn's interview on ralston!
Patrick ... you say "ungodly profits create jobs and push resources to their most highly valued use in society"
So where are those jobs? Why do we have one of the highest unemployment? Nobody taxed the home building industry out of existence.
Someone is going to pay the piper... either tax the business or tax the people. Government has to have money to run on...
If you demand that the businesses pay more money to the people you can tax them... but until then you have to tax the people with the profits... and that dear Patrick, is business in this town.
Bill777 if not income tax and not a profit tax then what kind of tax?
The government had projected that Clark County would reach 2 million in population in the year 2012.Unfortunately we reached that level in 2008.. Thus every thing is going up sooner than expected. Now with the economy tanking we are up the creek without a paddle...
TAXATION IS NOT AN OPTION.
Government spending MUST be reduced to minimal levels immediately!
TAXATION is political suicide; not reducing spending to balance a budget is political suicide"politicians have NO OPTION but to CUT, CUT, CUT SPENDING!
There is currently nothing prohibiting tax advocates from voluntarily providing government more or their wealth and income, they do not speak for the businesses, unemployed, bankrupted, foreclosed entities and individuals that are currently struggling to just to survive.
Non-taxation policy may be the norm in Nevada during good and bad times, but it is a failed policy. Public goods and services must be maintained, to avoid pitfalls from non-maintenance (losing federal funds, public trust, etc).
Taxes must be raised or this state will be hammered by the federal courts, and THEY will raise our taxes. Get it!! As one of the 50 states, we are not exempt from federal law and the mandates that involve basic guarantees for services. Sorry...Nevada got caught with it's pants down with stupidly low taxes for too long. Now we have to make it up under very trying circumstances. Gaming, mining, business and corporations in general. They've had a free ride for decades. The piper is playing real loud! Tough! Do it. Be a grown up!
Gibbons is worse than IL's Blago, madonne.
The problem with a profits tax is that right now, nobody has any. It makes your tax system less stable, not more. That's why gaming pays on gross revenues, not on profits, and why gaming taxes are relatively stable.
Target each industry that isn't paying now with reasonable gross revenue or transactions type tax, or significant license fees, that will not cost a lot to collect. Most states also allow for differential property taxes by use, but Nevada does not.
Taxation is theft; those mandating taxation are thieves, thieves are criminals.
A free society is one not shackled by criminals imposing mandates of theft.
I think its only right that the county cut its bloat too. Just watch the county commission hearings every two weeks to see the ridiculousness they deal with- trying to get highest wages for the county contracts instead of the lowest, dealing with unimportant problems like feral cats (they spend hours and hours on that one), and empowering their building department to shut down 560 rooms at the tropicana in the middle of a recession to meet some "just recenly discovered" renovations that have been OK for years, but all of sudden need to be fixed. I am disgusted with the bloat in government. Let them reorganize like everyone else has had to and live within their means.
Gibbons doesn't have the answer, the legislature is afraid to stand up and propose the real answer to the economic crisis in Nevada and that is to raise taxes, the best fix would be a Nevada state income tax. We are going to see our state die a fast death unless we face reality it costs money to run the state and we as residents who need and expect the services must pay for those services.