Lawmakers look at saving senior property tax rebate program

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 | 9 a.m.

CARSON CITY – There are signs that the senior property tax rebate program that sends checks to 16,000 elderly Nevadans might still be alive.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has recommended the program be eliminated, which would save $5.5 million a year. Seniors now get a rebate check ranging from $5 to $500.

But Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said there should be an examination to see if the program could be shifted to counties.

During a joint Senate-Assembly budget subcommittee meeting, Horsford said $866 million is being directed in the governor’s budget to local governments or school districts. He said it wouldn’t “bust the budget” to add another $5.6 million a year to the figure.

Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said “a lot of seniors bridge the gap” with these yearly checks.

Carol Sala, administrator of the state Division of Aging Services, said the agency examined a number of options to keep the program going, but it was decided the money could be better used in the elder protective services program.

Sala said the division looked at eliminating the property tax rebate for seniors above the federal poverty level. That would have cut 13,000 of the 16,000 recipients. She said an option of cutting off renters from the rebates also was looked at, which would have removed 4,500 from the rolls.

In addition, there was a study that looked at eliminating seniors at 150 percent of poverty, which would have reduced the number by 6,500.

Under questioning by Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, Sala said seniors in nursing homes receive the rebate payments. That’s the way it is written in the law since the nursing home operators must pay the property tax.

Sala said the division looked at shifting the program to the counties since they are the ones assessing the property tax. “In some counties it would work and other counties are strapped,” she told the subcommittee.

Horsford said it should be examined whether the program could be redirected, rather than eliminated. The state, he said, doesn’t receive the property tax.

Sala said the seniors are aware the program is recommended for elimination. She said the division gets letters every day from concerned seniors.