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Published Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 | 11:10 a.m.
Updated Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 | 4:20 p.m.
Sen. Michael Roberson
State Sen. Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, said today that he wants to cut the taxes Nevadans pay on their vehicles in half.
“It costs too much for a person in Nevada to register their car,” he said.
He said he hears from Nevadans all the time that they’re unhappy with the amount they have to pay to register their vehicles.
That cost has increased during the past few years because the Legislature hiked the Governmental Services Tax -- a tax Nevadans have to pay when registering a vehicle every year-- following the 2009 legislative session.
The governor’s budget accounts for $63 million in car taxes each year of the next two fiscal years. Roberson’s bill would cut that revenue in half, opening a hole in the governor’s budget that he said could be fixed with money coming in from a potential sales tax on services.
“If tax reform is doable this session, one of the first places I’d look is cutting the
Governmental Services Tax,” Roberson said.
The increased vehicle registration tax is part of a larger package of taxes passed to pave over budget gaps opened during the economic downturn.
But Roberson said now is the time to reduce those fees for Nevadans because they hit working and lower-income Nevadans the hardest.
He said he plans to ask legislative legal staff on Monday to draft a bill that would “dramatically lower” the cost of registering a car in Nevada.
“I do think that is a regressive tax,” he said. “Car registration fees need to go down.”
Monday is the deadline for legislators to file bill draft requests, which direct legislative legal staff to draft an actual bill.
Roberson said he has not yet talked to Senate Democrats about the bill.
Roberson's bill likely will become a bargaining chip during the debate over how to reform the state's tax structure.
Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, a North Las Vegas Democrat, said the sales tax on services proposal is not a clear way to raise revenue to replace the car fees.
“Is it going to be enough to fund all the things we're supposed to?” she said.
Kirkpatrick also said that a sales tax on services could be as regressive as the car fees, depending on which services the Legislature taxes.
“You have to be thoughtful when you do sales tax on services,” she said. “I believe that we have to look at that and ensure that everybody is paying their fair share. However, what we don't want to do is put a regressive type tax on people who are always paying their fair share.”
It costs $33.00 plus $1.00 to register your car. Any additional taxes are the result of measures passed by the Nevada State Legislature. Drop the taxes and fill the shortfall by doing what? Increasing the property taxes? Raising the sales taxes? The devil is always in the details.
Senator Michael Roberson has a valid argument. The tax on vehicles is too high. He says he wants it reduced by half. Then he goes on to say that the reduced taxes would be made up by a tax on services. Either way it is regressive. A tax on services would be very costly. How much will it cost to see your doctor, to have trash picked up, get a haircut, have a tired repaired, oil changed, emissions check to register your vehicle, have a Will made, etc. The cost in a services tax will be much more. As for those without a car, you will pay when you ride the bus, take a taxi, etc.
I wish, but it won't happen. Why is there 2 government service fees on my registration? 1 for 33$ & 1 for 250?
If Nevada would cut the cost of registration, mor people would choose to register their cars instead of keeping the out of state plates. There are about 6 or 7 in my neighborhood with plates from California, Utah and even New York.
So he's basically going to raise taxes on the poorer people, and people without a car. So what if you take a tax away from one area and add it too another, which mostlikely will be more money in taxes over a year.
Go for it Mr. Roberson. antigov: you might not be into it, but you can report your neighbors--30 days to get plates when you move to Nevada--law enforcement will ticket and/or Nv Dpt of Tax will send them a bill plus fraud penalties. Oregon plates are red flags for the revenuers--no sales tax and something like $19.50 to register a vehicle to a po box.
Can we have a reality check? Unless they cut SPENDING, you can't cut taxes. We have to have a balanced budget. That means you are going to be paying those taxes somewhere. We'd all love to pay less for car registration, but this is essentially the price we pay for having no state income tax. HORRIBLE idea to cut it, because when they add taxes in other places, I guarantee that we will all lose.
Atsteph and others here are right - there is a basic cost to run essential services. Right now we fund a few of those through car registration fees. If we cut those, Roberson and others need to explain the impact on essential services that would result, or say why it doesn't matter.
Oh, and if we want to cut spending, fine by me, but again: Roberson and others who want to do that need to explain what services will need to be cut.
Sure, there will be some people on here saying "fat and lazy bureaucrats don't need any more of my money." I'm sure those are the same people who complain about long DMV lines, too. Put 2 and 2 together and show Roberson how to do it while you're at it.
Hawaii, Alaska, California, Nevada and Connecticut in that order are the top most expensive states to own a car according to Forbes.
Flymart74, check out this link:
http://www.dmvnv.com/regfees.htm
It explains the $33 fee and then the additional "Governmental Services Tax" -- the subject of this story -- that is levied on vehicles.
Give me break, spending can be cut at least 20% across the board. Let me see the entire state budget and I guarantee you I can easily find areas to cut.
Right on, then, have at it, mate:
http://openbudget.nv.gov/OpenGov/ViewBud...
If you think a service tax is the right thing to do think twice. What will the service tax include? Will it includes services in the tradeshow industry? If we add tax to these services will it chase away tradeshows? If it scares away tradeshows we lose the visitors that often fill hotel rooms during the week.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot to give people that drive and should be able to afford expensive cars a tax break and put it on to all including the least capable minimum wage earners to afford this additional service tax.
Nevada likes to hawk the fact that there is no state income tax. Trust me, they make up the difference in other ways...one way is the exorbitant fees for car registration. Way too high.
Nevada has Snow Bird UNFRIENDLY car registration and insurance regulations.
This STUPID law requires insuring your car EVEN WHEN YOU ARE OUT OF TOWN FOR MONTHS.
This WASTES money - that could be spent on the Las Vegas economy by Snow Birds.
It is also FREE PROFIT for insurance companies.
CHANGE THE LAW to make Nevada Snow Bird FRIENDLY - Like Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico, etc.
My neighbor has lived here for twenty five years. None of his vehicles are registered in Nevada. He says it's easy. His "primary residence" is his mother's home out-of-state.
Question; Why aren't they enforcing the law by going after the cheaters? I see out of state plates all over the city and they can't all be military. Small motorbikes with no license plate weaving in and out of busy traffic. How do they get away with that?
Noindex, the state of Nevada's budget is available here:
http://openbudget.nv.gov/OpenGov/ViewAct...
By the way, one of the biggest items in the state budget is Medicaid costs. And one of the reasons for this is because Nevada employers are so miserly when it comes to pay and benefits, millions of Nevadans work full time but still don't earn enough to purchase their own health insurance and their employers don't provide them with insurance either.
That's what you get when you let employers push the burden onto the taxpayer.
It's always about Fees, User Taxes, Property Taxes,etc.. that proportionately take a larger chunk of Workers Pay, Seniors Retirements and even keeps the Poor poor. We are afraid to adequately tax mining for taking a valuable resource that can only be taken Once. We have the lowest Casino Tax in the country, an Industry that now provides mainly Part Time - No Benefits Jobs and overwhelms our Hospitals and Public services departments. A modest Tax increase is due to offset Property Taxes and exempting the first 100K from those taxes for Resident Owners. As far as an income tax- anyone making over 50K should expect to start paying a Progressive Income Tax to the state. Monies Made In Nevada should have a Tax in Nevada and an Income Tax is Deductible on the Federal Tax.
Mr Lambert says: As far as an income tax- anyone making over 50K should expect to start paying a Progressive Income Tax to the state.
And why would that be? My taxes have gone up a couple thousand a year starting this January. Why do I have to pay more?
Leave the registration taxes alone and start taxing MINING.
Title should read "ROBERSON WANTS TO TAX YOUR HAIRCUT."
My tax drops every year on my used car. You want to replace that with a new service tax? RINO!