Counties to verify signatures
CARSON CITY -- An initiative petition pushed by state Senate candidate Sharron Angle to cap property taxes has enough raw signatures to move the qualification process for the November election to the next phase, the secretary of state's office reported Tuesday.
The initial count, which does not take into account whether the signatures are from registered Nevada voters, is sufficient in all 17 counties to move to the verification process. A total of 83,600 signatures were turned in, more than the 58,628 needed to qualify for the ballot.
Secretary of State Ross Miller directed all 17 county registrars and clerks to verify the signatures.
For larger counties, that involves a random examination of 5 percent of the signatures turned in to determine if they are from registered voters. In smaller counties, all the signatures are checked.
County officials have nine days to perform the review.
Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said Angle turned in over 50,000 raw signatures. She needs just over 40,000 valid signatures in Clark County. Other, smaller numbers are needed in the 16 other counties.
Angle's petition was given a chance to qualify for the ballot after the Nevada Supreme Court last week ruled the Legislature imposed an unconstitutional deadline for initiative petitions to be turned in to county clerks.
Angle's proposed constitutional amendment would limit property tax increases to 2 percent per year, rather than the current cap of 3 percent for homeowners passed by the Legislature in 2005, until a property is sold. If the measure is on the ballot and voters approve it, it would have to pass again in 2010 before it could take effect.
Angle, a former member of the Assembly and a candidate for Congress in 2006, is running in the Republican primary against Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno.
Angle has been pursuing her constitutional amendment for several years without success. The Legislature has put a 3 percent cap on increases to property tax bills for most homeowners in state law, but Angle said the cap can be changed at will by lawmakers.
A constitutionally imposed property tax cap would ensure that it could never be reversed without a vote of the people, Angle said.
