Thursday, September 15, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Legislative opinion extends tax rebate to more residents

CARSON CITY -- Senior citizens with a driver's license but no registered vehicle who lived in Nevada last year are entitled to a $75 tax rebate, according to a legislative legal opinion.

The legal opinion, requested by Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, clarified an issue for this group of residents who might otherwise have missed out on the rebate. The group, originally estimated at only a few hundred, could number 66,000.

Buckley said the opinion by Legislative Counsel should put questions to rest about whether senior citizens without cars but who hold a driver's license will get money back from the state. "We are very pleased that the opinion upholds the intent of the Legislature," she said.

The opinion also was welcomed by Gov. Kenny Guinn, who wanted to provide a rebate check to this group of residents but questioned whether they were covered by the legislation.

"The state of Nevada will process these seniors' checks quickly so they may receive them as soon as possible," Guinn said.

"We're happy to provide the rebate to more people," said Michael Hillerby, chief of staff to Guinn. "It's their money."

Sending a $75 check to 66,000 people would cost nearly $5 million, an amount the rebate program easily can afford, Hillerby said.

However, people in the group won't get the money at the same time as everyone else, he said. It could take up to two months to send out those checks, he said. To be eligible for the checks, individuals must have turned 65 before Jan. 1, 2005.

In the next few weeks, rebates will be mailed to 1.8 million other Nevadans based on vehicle registration data held by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The checks will range from $75 to $275, depending on the size of the registration fee motorists paid last year.

Among those receiving checks are 60,000 senior citizens who hold state ID cards but did not register a vehicle. They will receive checks for $75, the minimum amount.

But the group identified in the legal opinion -- senior citizens who have a driver's license, not a state ID card, but no registered vehicles -- was thought to be overlooked in the final version of the plan to return $300 million to Nevada taxpayers.

When the oversight was first publicized in August, more than 120 senior citizens called the governor's office to express concern they would be left out in the mailing of the $75 rebate checks. The number of affected people was thought to be small.

However, a review of DMV data found the number is much larger, Hillerby said.

Buckley said she is not surprised there are so many senior citizens with a driver's license but no vehicles. If they stop driving and their licenses are still valid, seniors would keep them for identification purposes, she said.

"We're obviously very pleased that this legal opinion will ensure senior citizens, who have been paying taxes for years, will get the benefit of a rebate," Buckley said. "We fought all session for them to be included."