Thursday, May 19, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Backing for tax reform strong

68 percent support Proposition 13-type measure, poll shows

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CARSON CITY -- Six of 10 Nevadans in a Review-Journal and reviewjournal.com poll say they support the Legislature's property tax reform measure that significantly reduced their bills.

But an even larger number of poll respondents say they would still vote for a Proposition 13-style constitutional amendment restricting property tax bill increases even further.

The Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. poll found 68 percent of Nevadans would vote for a California-style measure to limit property tax growth to 2 percent a year.

Twenty percent were opposed and 12 percent undecided.

The strong support for a Proposition 13-style measure in Nevada came despite the favorable reaction to the Legislature's effort, which limited property tax bill increases to 3 percent for most homeowners and 8 percent for most other property owners in Clark County.

Although 60 percent approved of the solution, 30 percent said they were dissatisfied and 10 percent were unsure.

The poll of 625 registered voters, taken Thursday through Saturday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, a Proposition 13 advocate and the only lawmaker to vote against the Legislature's property tax relief bill, said the poll results are not a surprise.

"To me, this just says that everyone understands the issue," she said. "That they are happy with the Legislature for the immediate property tax relief, but they still want the constitutional guarantee that Prop. 13 provides."

Angle said she is still moving forward with plans to circulate an initiative petition in September to put a Proposition 13 measure on the 2006 general election ballot.

She remains confident that the effort to get the proposal on the ballot will be successful. It would have to be approved by voters twice before it could take effect.

Angle said educating voters on why the constitutional amendment is needed will be important, but the poll results suggest much of that education is already accomplished.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, who was involved in crafting the legislative response to the property tax crisis, said support will likely dwindle as voters are educated about the ramifications of Proposition 13.

"As far as I'm concerned, we don't need a California solution to a Nevada problem," he said. "I think given time that folks will understand that what we did was meaningful relief and still provided for essential services."

Perkins said the rollback provisions and growth limits under a Proposition 13 plan would hurt schools and public safety services delivered by local governments. And once taxpayers see their property tax bills, they will not be so inclined to support a Proposition 13, he said.

Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., said strong support in the poll for Proposition 13 is not surprising.

"Given the opportunity to cap your property taxes at 2 percent, who wouldn't take that opportunity," he said.

But Coker acknowledged that asking the Proposition 13 question first, before poll respondents were told about the legislative action, could have skewed support higher for Proposition 13.

If such a measure qualifies for the ballot, the debate will revolve around whether the Legislature went far enough and whether property tax relief should be locked in stone in the state constitution, he said.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, who pushed for a one-year freeze on property tax increases as an interim solution, said her proposal would likely have reduced support for Proposition 13 in the poll if it had been enacted by the Legislature.

"The caps are still higher than my freeze," Titus said.

The Legislature can also increase the caps in future sessions without voter approval, Titus said.

If a Proposition 13 plan does get on the ballot, an unlikely coalition of groups, from education to gaming to the chambers of commerce, will come out in opposition, she said.

However, they will face off against an equally motivated group pushing not only Proposition 13, but a taxpayer bill of rights measure, an anti-minimum wage proposal and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., as the likely Republican candidate for governor, Titus said.

Henderson resident Steve Sica said he will work to qualify a Proposition 13 ballot initiative in Nevada to ensure voters have control over their property taxes.

"There is no question that the Legislature provided significant relief to people who were very concerned about their bills," he said. "But the Legislature can change what they did. Proposition 13 will give Nevadans some control over government."

Sica said he benefited from the Legislature's action, seeing a property tax bill that would have increased by 60 percent limited to only 3 percent.

"But I still disagree with what they did," he said. "The caps still create revenue increases double the current consumer price index."