Property tax hike in works

Las Vegas residents will have to shoulder their desire for more parks through a 2 percent property tax hike if a tentative budget approved Tuesday by the City Council gets a final OK Monday.

The increase of 1.3 cents per $100 of assessed value amounts to an extra $4.69 annually on a home with an assessed value of $100,000 and is expected to generate about $2.5 million.

City officials justify the increase as "Basically, a McDonald's lunch."

But on the campaign trail, even the tiniest increase in property taxes could hurt City Councilman Arnie Adamsen in his bid to become mayor. Adamsen's opponent, attorney Oscar Goodman, has repeatedly stated he will not raise taxes.

"Everywhere we go voters are asking us for parks," Adamsen said, justifying the increase. "We don't want to go out for a huge park bond issue."

Money generated from the increase will be added to $3.5 million the city receives from Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to finance bonds. The $6 million could leverage close to $25 million for parks.

The tax increase still keeps the city of Las Vegas 12 percent below the state-imposed limit on property tax rates that municipalities can levy.

Only one resident spoke at Tuesday's budget hearing -- and actually was on hand to give the council "an atta boy" for its commitment of $2 million in additional funds for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.

The city's overall $532 million budget includes $292 million for operating expenses -- a 7.8 percent increase from the fiscal year 1999 budget.

However, even a modest increase in taxes highlights the disparity between city and county property tax rates -- an issue that has been simmering at the edges of the mayoral campaign.

Clark County residents currently pay about $81 less a year on homes valued at $100,000 than do their city counterparts. If the budget meets final approval Monday, city residents would pay nearly $86 more on a similar home.

The proposed increase is the first in three years and comes after a 9 percent cut in taxes in 1997.

The largest bulk of the budget -- 58 percent -- is $163 million for public safety. The Metropolitan Police Department receives $79 million of that -- a $5.5 million increase from last year.

Metro will add 110 new officers and will build four substations and a police training academy.

The budget also includes $46 million for parks and recreation programs -- including 51 new staff for the municipal pool and two new recreation centers.

City staff is currently examining the feasibility of hiring third-party agencies to staff one of the recreation centers with volunteers -- thus reducing the need for some of the added part-time employees.

"If there was a theme in this budget, I'd say it's heavily weighted toward public safety and parks," Finance Director Mark Vincent said.

Roughly half of the increase in the year 2000 budget comes from contractual increases to salary and benefit costs. Twenty percent of the budget increase is because of the Metro increase.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said the property tax hike was needed to balance the budget as a result of increased spending on police and employee salaries and benefits.

"We're faced with a dilemma because 52 percent of our revenues are from the consolidated tax," Houchens said.

The consolidated tax, which is distributions of state-collected shares of taxes, including sales tax, can fluctuate with tourism rates.

Property taxes, on the other hand, comprise 18 percent of the city's revenue and are not subject to economic changes.

Other revenues in the budget include $3.6 million from the rental of jail beds to the Immigration Naturalization Service and $800,000 from an inaugural fire department program to collect fees for emergency medical transports.

Although the city is spending more on its recreation centers, an increase in recreation fees will generate roughly $3 million in revenue for the city.

Interest earnings from certain capital projects -- such as the sewer enterprise fund -- will be transferred for use building parks, Vincent said.

The City Council also gave approval Tuesday to a tentative Redevelopment Agency budget including $290,000 in savings as a result of consolidation efforts between the City Center Development Corp. and the Office of Business Development.

Three budgeted positions were lost in that consolidation.

City budget officials are evaluating other ways to save money or increase revenue.

Among them are possible increases in fees for North Las Vegas to hook into the city's Water Pollution Control Facility.

The city also is trying to get enterprise operations -- such as the cemetery -- to pay for themselves. For example, the Municipal Court will receive $12.8 million in funding and will generate a little more than $12 million in revenue.

The budget now must receive final approval from the City Council. A vote on the budget is expected Monday.

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