Wednesday, March 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Clark County finance officials have come up with a plan that would cost $2.6 million a year in county revenue to help lower tax rates for homeowners in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.
But the plan calls for the city of Las Vegas to reach into its pockets for $5 million to help reduce its own tax rates.
The plan would phase in tax relief so that by 2001, the average city homeowner would see a reduction of about $100 in property taxes -- equal to about a week's worth of groceries for the typical family.
"The plan is to try to get a total reduction over several years," Assistant County Manager Randy Walker said. Because of city-imposed tax overrides and other factors, total equality of tax rates can't be achieved, Walker said.
County officials are scheduled to discuss the tax fairness proposal at Tuesday's commission meeting.
"I think everyone agrees something needs to be done to create fairness," commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates said.
Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said the proposal seems to have a rational basis, though he's uncertain about part of the plan pertaining to county islands.
"I'm not going to approve anything that channels money from the county to the cities without a rationale," Woodbury said, referring to a previous recommendation from Las Vegas officials that the county give $25 million to reduce city taxes.
Woodbury said he had asked Walker to make the Las Vegas and North Las Vegas proposals separate because their bottom lines were different.
Gates said the item is for discussion only, and could be separated.
The plan is the product of four closed meetings Gates and Woodbury held with Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, Councilman Matt Callister, Walker, County Manager Pat Shalmy, former county comptroller Guy Hobbs and Golden Nugget President Barry Shier.
City officials have long argued they unfairly pay $124 more than their county counterparts in the annual property tax on a typical home. While all county residents pay a base rate, their tax bill varies according to what the municipality they live in charges for urban services. Las Vegas charges about 71 cents per $100 of assessed value on a home, while the county's urban tax rate is about 38 cents.
By theoretically shifting revenue from various sources, finance officials have managed to reduce the tax rates in the cities by 29 cents for every $100 of assessed value, Walker said. That would reduce taxes for the owner of a $100,000 home in Las Vegas by $101 and in North Las Vegas by $92.
That reduction would be achieved by the city spending $5 million of its own money to reduce its taxes, saving $8 million by merging the city's Municipal Court into the county's Justice Court, letting cities keep the $1.23 million in gaming taxes that currently go to the county, equalizing the Metro Police manpower rate and paying $3.2 million to the city for services provided in county islands.
Commissioners have reservations about some of the proposals. Gates said she's worried that shifting the 1986 Metro manpower rate could raise county taxes. Woodbury said he has concerns about the county reimbursing the city for services provided to residents in the county islands.
The plan could raise taxes in the unincorporated county, but Gates said the effect should not be felt by county taxpayers or reduce services provided by the county.
"I don't think we'll feel it," Gates said. "All it means is the money we usually put into our capital fund for modernization is going to be $2.6 million short."
That fund currently has $31 million, Gates said.
Also, the amount probably will be absorbed by the increase in tax rolls from casino construction and housing growth, Gates said.
"We have all that growth still occurring with the development of hotels," Gates said. "It's not going to affect us too bad with so much growth going on."
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