Nevada governor approves fuel, Las Vegas officer tax extension efforts

Gov. Joe Lombardo signaled his approval of two Southern Nevada tax extensions that would keep revenue sources in place for police officers’ salaries and road infrastructure projects in Clark County.

The Republican governor signed Assembly Bill 530 and Senate Bill 451 into law on Thursday, which both authorize local governments to extend existing taxes.

AB 530 continues fuel revenue indexing — a process that adjusts the fuel tax to keep transportation funding in pace with rising materials and labor costs — for 10 years. Backers of the program said the continued indexing helps avoid a severe funding shortfall for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

SB 451, meanwhile, renewed a 0.2 percent property tax, set to expire in 2027, that funds the salaries of more than 800 Metropolitan Police Department officers.

Opponents of both bills objected to how the extensions came about. Both taxes were first implemented through ballot measures, and they believed they should return to public votes.

It’s a stance Lombardo agreed with in 2023, when a similar measure to continue fuel revenue indexing made it to his desk but was vetoed. Lombardo called the method “concerning” then and said there was enough time to consider other solutions before the 2026 expiration date.

But the funding issues appeared to be more pressing this session. When approving AB 530, Lombardo said the Legislature-led effort was not how he wanted to see the tax extended but that it was necessary to keep critical transportation projects and the jobs associated with them in place.

“Fuel Revenue Indexing (FRI) supports critical transportation infrastructure across Southern Nevada, and Assembly Bill 530 enables the Clark County Commission to take timely action on this issue through a two-thirds vote,” Lombardo said in a Thursday evening statement.

He said he would have “strongly preferred” it went back to voters and proposed a way to avoid future Legislature-carried tax extensions.

“To avoid similar situations in the future, my office is exploring a statutory amendment to require all sunset bills to automatically go back to the ballot before the sunset expires,” he said. “Politicians should not be the sole arbiters of sunset extensions, and if passed, this amendment would return the vote to the people.”

SB 451 was similarly a necessary funding source, Lombardo argued in his statement. He said the property tax was needed to “maintain essential funding for police officers in Southern Nevada.”

He also pointed to caps and abatements in Nevada’s tax structure that would have effectively kept a taxpayer’s bill at the same level — not reduced — if the measure failed. The state limits annual property tax increases to no more than 3 percent for residential and 8 percent for commercial properties. But because most properties are taxed below their value and receive partial tax abatements, other property taxes would have been revised up in its place.

“Without this legislation, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) would lose nearly 25% of its police force, which would be an untenable loss for law enforcement and deeply detrimental to the safety of Clark County and its millions of residents and visitors,” Lombardo, the former Clark County sheriff, said in his approval message. “SB451 is not a new tax or a tax increase, and the extension of this voter-approved measure is critical for ongoing public safety efforts in Southern Nevada.”

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the bill number for Senate Bill 451.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.