Monday, March 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
One of the main ingredients of a plan to use county revenue to help lower city taxes is a legislative proposal that would raise taxes for thousands of property owners in unincorporated county "islands" surrounded by city land.
If approved, county island homeowners could see their taxes go up almost $90 a year. Another part of the so-called "tax fairness" proposal would raise taxes for most other unincorporated county residents by about $3 a year.
Both are expected to meet with resistance from the public. Commissioners said they received calls last week from county residents who object to paying out of their pockets to lower taxes for city residents, and would rather see the city cut its budget to lower taxes.
The proposal unveiled last week depends on the county sacrificing $2.6 million of its taxpayers' revenue to help save city taxpayers about a week's worth of groceries for a typical family.
The County Commission is set to discuss the proposal at Tuesday's board meeting.
Some commissioners see it as a way to use county revenue to lower city taxes to help re-elect City Councilman Matthew Callister.
Other critics said the plan seems engineered to give downtown hotel-casino owners a property tax break.
Callister, who has been involved in the closed-door discussions on the tax equity plan, said he was glad to see the county "publicly discuss the issue." He commended commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who has been involved in the discussions, and Commissioner Lance Malone, who made tax equity a campaign issue when he ran for office last fall.
Officials devised a plan to cut the city tax rate by 29 cents for every $100 of assessed value by 2001 -- saving the owner of a $125,000 home about $127 a year.
The most significant tax reduction would come from merging the city's Municipal Court into the county's Justice Court system, saving the city about $8 million a year. The city can further reduce the tax rate by spending $5 million of its own, for a total reduction of about 20 cents per $100 of assessed value or a savings of almost $90 a year for city residents without increasing county taxes.
About 15 percent of the proposed tax reduction would come from the county spending about $3.2 million to reimburse the city for urban services provided to about 10,000 residents living in the county islands -- or $312 a head.
Callister said it is a "no-brainer" for the entity providing services to be reimbursed.
But Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who also sat in on the secret discussions, said the dollar amount seemed too high.
"I still have a concern whether the amount we're paying the city is reflective of the services provided," Woodbury said. "I think this would be somewhat more than the services justified."
Assistant County Manager Randy Walker said he came up with that amount by averaging the county's and city's expenses for urban services per person, minus services provided by the county.
That part of the plan depends on the Legislature approving the County Urban Taxing District bill, Assembly Bill 70, Walker said.
"We don't do the deal with the city unless that takes place," Woodbury said.
If approved, people living in the county islands would have to start paying for the services they now receive for free, because Clark County would have the authority to consolidate the seven township taxing districts into one and levy the urban tax rate on property owners not in an unincorporated township.
"This would make all residents of the Las Vegas Valley pay the same tax rates," Woodbury said. "It's pretty hard to say some are receiving better or more services than others, and right now people in the so-called islands are paying nothing for municipal services."
With the authorization, the county could levy a tax rate on the county islands to offset the city services bill by about $1.27 million, Walker said. That tax increase would raise taxes 20 cents per $100 of assessed value in the county islands -- or about $90 a year for the average homeowner, Walker said.
The tax equity proposal is crafted so most other residents in unincorporated areas don't get a tax increase, Walker said.
That is, except for the shift in the Metro Police manpower debt rates, which would increase taxes for the average county homeowner by about $3.28 a year.
Leaving the Metro manpower portion out of the mix would only reduce the rate by 27 cents per $100 of assessed value, cutting about $9 a year off the expected savings for city residents.
Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates said some commissioners are not sure they want to do that to their constituents just to lower city taxes.
"It's some level of sacrifice that the board has to determine if it is willing to do," Walker said.
Woodbury said the money put up by the county is insignificant as a percentage of the county's annual budget and would not in itself raise taxes or cut into services.
"It's a lot of money in the abstract, and certainly would not result in a tax increase for unincorporated county residents," Woodbury said.
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