Yes, Sandoval is raising taxes, group asserts

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval has been in office only a month, but Nevada progressives say he already is poised to break his central campaign promise to oppose all tax increases.

They say Sandoval's plan to save more than $11 million in 2011-13 by eliminating the Senior Citizens' Property Assistance program is a tax increase for about 17,000 seniors who receive an average check of $335.

"Effectively, they're going to be paying more property taxes," said Assemblyman David Bobzien, D-Reno.

Bobzien tweeted on the issue Tuesday during legislative meeting on the state's Aging and Disabilities Division. Members of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada re-tweeted it.

PLAN Executive Director Bob Fulkerson said Sandoval opposes limiting deductions on mine net proceeds.

"They're trying to have it both ways on this; clearly it just shows where their values are," Fulkerson said. "Which is with the powerful and the rich."

Sandoval in his election campaign promised a balanced budget without raising taxes. Sandoval makes the promise a guiding principle for his administration and vows to balance the 2011-13 biennial budget on $5.8 billion in general fund spending, a decrease of about 8 percent. Sandoval has said he will not extend 2009 tax increases that are due to sunset, saying that would be a tax increase.

Bobzien said Sandoval's budget proposals "are at odds with that concern."

Not so, Sandoval spokeswoman Mary-Sarah Kinner said.

"The governor believes this program is a welfare subsidy that the state can no longer afford," Kinner said.

She said the program has grown since it began as a break for low-income senior homeowners. Of 16,272 seniors who last received the subsidy, 37 percent owned homes, and 21 percent had incomes at or below the poverty line.

Chuck Muth, a conservative commentator, sided with Sandoval.

"It appears that, like many well-intended government programs, this one has morphed into something it was never intended to be," Muth said. "It's a stretch beyond even Gumby's capability to call its elimination a tax hike."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.