Tax cap initiative comes up short

Backers of a petition to cap property taxes didn't submit signatures in Clark County by Tuesday's deadline, according to the secretary of state's office.

Not submitting the signatures in the state's largest county appeared to spell the doom of the initiative, modeled on California's Proposition 13.

Backers of the petition, a project of Republican former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle of Reno, arrived late -- around 5:20 p.m. -- at the Clark County Election Department on Tuesday, the last day to turn in the required 58,628 signatures in all 17 counties, said Matt Griffin, the office's elections deputy.

They returned Wednesday, but the signatures included many photocopies, rather than the originals required by law, he said. The secretary of state's office directed Clark County officials not to accept the hodgepodge of duplicate and some original petitions.

"As far as Clark County is concerned, no petition was ever turned in and the deadline is passed," Griffin said.

Angle, who is running for the state Senate seat held by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

Angle has previously tried without success to get her proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. Angle surprised many observers when she announced earlier this week she would have enough signatures.

"We have over the minimum number (of signatures) ... and I think we're in good shape," she said Tuesday as she turned in petitions in Northern Nevada.

The proposed 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.

New rules for ballot initiative petitions require that signatures of registered voters be collected in all of Nevada's 17 counties proportional to their share of the state's population. In Clark County, home to nearly 70 percent of the state's population according to the 2000 census, 40,364 signatures are required.

Review-Journal Capital Bureau writer Sean Whaley contributed to this report. Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.