EDITORIAL: Just say no to ‘More Cops’ tax — again

Today the Clark County Commission will begin the pointless process of reconsidering — or re-reconsidering, as it were — a sales tax increase to boost Southern Nevada police funding that lacks the votes for passage.

Commissioner Tom Collins, in the home stretch of his final term on the panel, apparently hopes the re-election of three of his colleagues this month will compel them to vote differently on his preferred plan: a 0.15 percentage-point increase in the county sales tax that would boost the rate to 8.25 percent.

The commission has twice failed to approve a sales tax increase — once in October 2013, once in January — and it should reject the increase again for one simple reason: police funding is not a crisis in Clark County.

The 2015 Legislature will convene in less than three months to confront several budget challenges. The state’s mental health system is in crisis. So is the state’s K-12 system, particularly related to campus construction and building maintenance. There is only so much tax money to go around, and no single government entity’s revenue wishes can be considered in a vacuum. Taxpayers can only take so many punches.

Public safety is the most important function of local government, and cities and the county should prioritize their spending accordingly. Unfortunately, they don’t. The city of Las Vegas and Clark County refuse to cut less-important services to properly fund the consolidated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. A sales tax increase to fund police would serve as a bailout for parks, University Medical Center and other departments, and allow governments to continue to avoid unpopular decisions while handing out pay raises to their unionized workforces.

The commission has the ability to increase the sales tax because, way back in 2004, Clark County voters narrowly approved a “More Cops” advisory question in support of a half-cent sales tax increase so that more officers could be hired in metropolitan Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite. A quarter-cent increase took effect in 2005, but the Great Recession erased support for the second quarter-cent increase.

Last year, Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie sought approval of the second quarter-cent increase, but the 2013 Legislature refused to authorize it, settling on a maximum increase of 0.15 cents and giving the Clark County Commission final say. But to pass the increase, the commission needs five of its seven members to vote yes. And the panel does not have five votes in favor of a 0.15-cent increase.

“Unless the proposal has changed, I don’t think one election is going to make a difference to my colleagues,” Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak told the Review-Journal’s James DeHaven last week.

It hasn’t changed. Another argument supports rejection of the increase: It won’t support “More Cops,” which is what the electorate wanted a decade ago. Instead, the levy will support only the replacement of retiring officers. Moreover, the Metropolitan Police Department has reserves that, as of early this year, totaled more than $130 million, which can be used to fill budget holes caused by declines in property tax revenue.

Today, the commission will reintroduce the ordinance. A vote on it could come next month. There shouldn’t be much suspense. As we wrote last year, the public can withstand only so many hits to the wallet. A sales tax increase for police is one hit too many.