Petition drive gathers momentum

CARSON CITY -- Former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle said Tuesday she has found the missing ingredient needed to gather enough signatures to put her petition to limit property taxes before voters.

That's money, Angle said.

The former Reno Republican lawmaker's We The People Nevada organization has collected $250,000--including $200,000 from a private donor--to gather signatures for the tax limitation petition.

"We would like more," she said. "We know our opponents will come after us. We need money for potential court challenges and for promotion of the campaign."

She submitted the petition Tuesday to the secretary of state's office and plans to begin gathering signatures in a few weeks. Her organization needs to collect 58,628 valid signatures on its petitions by next May 20.

Signatures must be collected in all 17 counties under a law passed earlier this year. The complex formula requires 40,364 signatures from Clark County residents, but only 122 from sparsely populated Lincoln County.

The American Civil Liberties Union has questioned the constitutionality of the new petition formula, but so far no challenge has been filed in the courts.

Angle failed in 2004 and 2006 to gather enough signatures to put the proposal on election ballots.

She blamed the losses on a lack of money and the fact she was spending a lot of her time last year on an unsuccessful run for Congress.

"We will be able to employ paid signature gatherers," Angle said. "It is no longer feasible for volunteers to gather signatures. The law for petitioning has been so overburdened with requirements."

Her organization seeks to amend the state constitution and limit property tax increases on all types of property to 2 percent per year, or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

Though the measure would not go into effect before July 2011, it would use the 2003-04 fiscal year as the base year from which to calculate property tax increases.

Consequently, local government and school districts that rely on property tax revenue would be forced to reduce spending to levels in effect seven years earlier.

Under a law passed in 2005, property taxes now are capped at 3 percent per year for owner-occupied residences and 8 percent per year on commercial and other property. Angle was the only legislator to oppose the law.

Conservative political consultant Chuck Muth questioned whether voters are concerned about property taxes enough now to sign the petition.

"I am deeply suspicious about this flying," he said. "The average citizen feels the Legislature did something. I don't think she is going to stir up much interest. It may be too little too late."

Muth expressed doubt about Angle really having $250,000 in donations. If she does, then that should be enough money to put the petition on the ballot, he said.

But he added that various interest groups could make arguments about property taxes already being capped and convince voters not to approve it. He noted that home values are dropping.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said rolling back property tax rates to the 2003-04 fiscal year would be a disaster for local governments and schools,

"The (lost revenue) number would be rather dramatic," said Townsend, mentioning that the Legislature's fiscal staff is trying to calculate the actual loss. "I think you would have local governments talking about laying off firefighters and police. Think what it would do to the schools. Everybody wants to pay less in taxes, but I am not getting any calls from people about high property taxes."

But Angle's petition would give voters the chance to express whether they are satisfied with what the Legislature did in 2005, or if they want a more radical change.

The problem with the current property tax system is that the Legislature at any time could change the law and put in its place cost-prohibitive tax requirements, Angle said.

"The present system is unstable," she said. "You don't know what the taxes will be next year."

She also contends that legislators violated the state Constitution by charging a different tax rate for commercial property. All taxes must be fair and uniform, she added.

If the petition gathering is successful and voters back the proposal in ballot questions during the 2008 and 2010 elections, then the tax limitations will become part of the state constitution. Once in the constitution, the limitations could not be changed without a vote of the people.

Under Angle's petition, the 2 percent annual increase applies to the home or business as long as it remains in the hands of the current owner.

Once the home or business is sold, say in 10 years, the property will be assessed and taxed at the current market value. But under the 2005 law, the caps remain with the property, regardless of the owner.

Angle does not expect many people would shy away from buying homes because they would be paying taxes on current value under her proposal.

"It hasn't hurt home sales in California," she said. "People coming in from other states are used to the system. This is not going to chill out home buyers."

Though Angle has referred to the $200,000 contribution to her organization as private, she said the donor's identity will be made known next year when their contribution report is submitted to the secretary of state. Organizations are required by law to identify funding sources.

Besides limiting property taxes, the Angle petition calls for a constitutional prohibition on inheritance taxes and reiterated that personal income taxes are banned in Nevada. It also allows people 62 and over to transfer the tax value of their current property to any new property that they may purchase.