Making case for increase in Henderson property tax

In response to your Sept. 5 editorial, “Raises show no need for Henderson tax hike,” I would like to counter some of the claims made by the Review-Journal editorial board.

Every city tries to create a place where people want to live, work and raise their families. The big difference between us and others is we’ve done it without raising property taxes for 23 years.

There is not a single major city in Nevada with a lower property tax than Henderson. Henderson residents get the best value for their tax dollar in Nevada, hands down. Our property tax has been 71 cents per $100 of assessed home value since 1991.

In Las Vegas, it’s $1.06 (with Metropolitan Police Department costs included), and in North Las Vegas, it’s $1.16. If Henderson had the same rate as Las Vegas, we’d have a budget surplus!

And considering we have one of the lowest employees-to-resident ratios, it’s even more evident it’s a great bargain to live in Henderson.

Roads, police cars, fire trucks, parks and street lights cost money, as do the people operating those police cars and building those roads. From my chair, a city that has provided those services for 23 years without a single property tax increase is doing something right, because those costs haven’t gone down.

The Review-Journal talks about government pay and benefits; however, it often fails to mention cities and counties here are legally bound to negotiate for union pay and benefits. We’re required by law to bargain with unions, and if we can’t reach an agreement, we have to go to an arbitrator who picks the winner in a dispute.

In addition, the law says an arbitrator has to consider a city’s “ability to pay,” meaning if a city has any money — reserves or otherwise — it’s fair game for a union wanting an increase. That law devastated North Las Vegas, and it’s potentially crippling if we don’t work collaboratively with our unions.

Fortunately for us, we have great relationships with ours.

Over the course of the recession, we’ve negotiated for cuts to pay and benefits. Our unions gave up previously negotiated cost-of-living adjustments. They took lump sum, one-time payments in lieu of raises, saving the city millions of dollars.

For our nonrepresented employees, we’ve eliminated sick and vacation time. We conducted a compensation study for those employees to ensure pay is in line with market conditions.

Our largest union group also agreed to a compensation study, in addition to paying a greater share of its health and retirement costs.

But the personnel side is only one part of this business.

We need an additional $17 million annually to keep up with infrastructure costs. And that’s not just a Henderson problem — it’s a national problem.

Cities across America have kicked the can down the road, and we’re seeing the devastating effects. Henderson is a far cry from those places. But the question we need to ask is: “What kind of city do we want for the future?”

Can we get by with a few more potholes, or fewer hours at recreation centers? Is it acceptable to wait an additional minute for police or firefighters? Those are legitimate questions for our residents to answer, and a ballot initiative gives them the opportunity to tell us what they want and what they don’t.

When our community Budget Ad Hoc Committee met last spring, they recommended we ask residents for a modest property tax increase to keep our quality of life. It was so modest that even if voters approved the entire amount recommended, property taxes would still only be 91 cents — lower still than Las Vegas, North Las Vegas or Reno.

That increase would be about $10 a month on a $175,000 home, which would still be less than taxes were on the same property in 2007. We even committed that not one cent of a property tax increase would go to salaries or benefits.

I believe Henderson residents love their city and their quality of life. Yes, there are other needs, including schools and mental health care, but these things don’t exist independent of each other.

Our roads take kids to school. Our ambulances take the sick to the hospitals. Our police keep those places and people safe.

Historically, we’ve done a great job balancing those needs. Now we need to invest in the future. We’ve saved, we’ve collaborated and done our part to identify what we need to maintain our great quality of life.

The only thing we need now is a vision from our residents on how they want that future to look. And after 23 years, I think it’s time for a little more.

John Marz represents Ward 3 on the Henderson City Council.