Wednesday, May 26, 1999 | 10:52 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- A plan that would lower and then cap property taxes died Tuesday in the Assembly Taxation Committee.
The measure, sponsored by conservative Assemblyman Don Gustavson, R-Sun Valley, was designed to thwart efforts to shift the state's dependence on casino and sales taxes to property taxes.
Assembly Joint Resolution 17 would have rolled back Nevada's property tax rate to mid-1990 levels, set the rate at 1 percent of taxable value, and limited any annual increases to no more than 2 percent of that value.
Gustavson had argued that his proposed constitutional amendment would have helped current property owners by basing taxes on acquisition value, not on a fluctuating real estate market.
But critics say AJR17 would cost the state $200 million over five years and could bankrupt local government budgets.
The measure would also prevent any future hike in the real estate transfer tax, which counties dip into for specific spending projects.
Seniors also would have been able to transfer the assessed value of their old home to any they moved into, regardless of the purchase price, and any property tax increases or additions could only have been enacted by a two-thirds majority vote in a county election.
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