Conservation district in Southern Nevada won’t pursue tax increase this year

A tax hike originally discussed as a possibility by the Conservation District of Southern Nevada will not be pursued this year.

However, the seven-member board is not ruling it out as a possibility in future years. The board gained the ability — through a bill passed by legislators in 2015 — to put a question on the ballot asking voters to approve a property tax of up to $25 per parcel.

“I think that people would vote for us,” Board Secretary Amber Bosket said Thursday during the board’s monthly meeting. “I think people want conservation. They take natural resources seriously. We were given feedback that we need to prove ourselves before we move forward.”

Bosket said the board had looked at putting a question on the November ballot asking voters to approve a $2.95 fee on each parcel, bringing in an estimated $2.1 million. But the board decided to slow its efforts based on feedback from the Clark County Commission and the chamber.

As it stands, the districts get a couple of thousand dollars in state funding. This year the Southern Nevada Conservation District received $4,000.

“We would like to have something to work with to be able to promote our programs and do new programs that will benefit the community,” Bosket said. “We need to have that reliable and consistent source of funding to give us the ability to do what we signed up to do.”

Some of the district’s programs include the annual Christmas tree recycling program and the stormwater pollution prevention poster contest for elementary school students.

During Thursday’s meeting, the board discussed the possibility of working with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension in the immediate future.

“The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) had suggested that we work with the Cooperative Extension, because the Cooperative Extension has funding,” Bosket said. “The BCC suggested we work with them to see if there are ways that we can get some funding to do some of our programs that have a mutual alignment in mission.”

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.