Thursday, May 06, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Clock running on tax initiative

Proposition 13-type petition drive begins

CARSON CITY -- Supporters of an initiative petition to place a Proposition 13-type property tax reform measure into the state constitution filed their paperwork Wednesday, giving themselves just 42 days to collect more than 50,000 signatures.

Reno Assemblywoman Sharron Angle filed the petition with the secretary of state for what she said should be a short but successful bid to get the property tax plan to Nevada voters in November.

"I think it's going to happen," she said.

Getting the petition qualified would not be without precedent.

The group Keep Our Doctors in Nevada collected nearly 100,000 signatures in 2002 to put a medical malpractice reform measure on this year's ballot. The group used a professional firm to collect signatures, and the effort was accomplished in 45 days.

Angle's petition would freeze the property tax rate at 1 percent of assessed value based on the 2001-02 fiscal year. Property taxes then could increase each year by 2 percent or the rate of the consumer price index, whichever is lower. Already approved voter overrides for school construction and other projects would be exempted from the limit.

The proposal also could change the vote requirement to raise property taxes for a school building program or other capital construction project. If the project could be accommodated within the 1 percent tax rate, a simple majority vote would be required, as is now the case. But if the proposal would cause the 1 percent rate to be exceeded, a two-thirds vote would be required.

The measure also would freeze the real estate transfer tax in place at the time the property tax proposal was approved.

Angle, a Republican, said the 1 percent rate would be based on the assessed value of the home in the base year. If a person purchased a home for $200,000 in 2001-02, the annual property tax bill would be $2,000, plus the yearly allowable increase.

Angle said she is seeking the change because property tax rate increases keep rising at an alarming rate in many areas of Nevada, making it difficult for some new families and retirees to pay taxes on their property.

Copies of the petition should be available for downloading at Angle's Web site -- www.sharronangle.net -- beginning today.

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, who signed on to the legislative version of the proposal pushed by Angle in the 2003 session, said the idea makes sense.

"We're seeing the kind of escalating property values that have not been seen around these parts for many years, if ever," he said. "It's very California-like."

Beers, who is running for the Senate seat held by Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, said the question would pass easily if it qualifies for the ballot.

Not everyone thinks the proposal is a good idea.

Jan Gilbert, Northern Nevada coordinator of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said Angle's proposal would be terrible for Nevada.

"Just look to California to see what happened there with Proposition 13," she said. "It hog-tied them and their schools are still struggling."

Nevada has a low overall property tax rate, and locking in rates will not allow the state to meet the needs of its growing population, said Gilbert, who ran unsuccessfully against Angle as the Democrat from Assembly District 26 in 2002.

A 2001 special report by the Washington, D.C.,-based Tax Foundation included a ranking of the per capita burden of property taxes by state. Data from the nonpartisan educational organization showed Nevada was 35th lowest, with property taxes at $573 per person.

Clark County Manager Thom Reilly said Wednesday the county will monitor the progress of Angle's efforts, but had not yet analyzed what impact it might have on the county.

Because the proposal would do away with the 1.5 percent depreciation rate per year now allowed for dwellings, the impact is not clear, he said.

The county gets about a third of its operating budget from property taxes, Reilly said.

"What struck me was how late the petition was initiated," he said. "It will be a challenge to get 50,000 signatures."

The 1.5 percent per year depreciation rate on buildings was put into Nevada's property tax formula in 1981 by the Legislature in response to California's passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. It was intended to help people who live in their homes for a long time and was aimed at the elderly.

The Nevada legislative action on property taxes came after voters rejected a Proposition 13-like ballot measure in a 1980 vote. The constitutional amendment had passed the first time, in 1978. But lawmakers promised they would address the property tax issue in Nevada if voters rejected the measure, and voters did just that.

If Angle gets the measure on the ballot, it would have to be approved by voters a second time in 2006 and would take effect in 2007, rolling back tax rates to the 2001-02 fiscal year plus the authorized annual increases.