County commissioners want to discuss expectations with CCSD before committing to tax increase for schools

By Kelcie Grega

Wednesday, July 3, 2019 | 2 a.m.

Before Clark County commissioners consider increasing the county sales tax rate to help boost funding for local public schools, they want to hear more from the potential beneficiaries — officials with the Clark County School District.

Assembly Bill 309, approved by the 2019 Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak, gives county commissions across Nevada the ability to institute a quarter-cent sales tax increase, with the proceeds earmarked to help fund education and social services like affordable housing programs, workforce training and truancy reduction programs.

An additional quarter-cent tax in Clark County would raise an estimated $108 million annually, according to state officials.

Commissioners, who discussed AB309 at their meeting Tuesday, pledged their support to public education but indicated they would proceed cautiously.

Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said that while she was “all about” supporting CCSD, she’d like to see more commitment from the district in partnering with the county.

“I’d be interested in having a meeting with the School Board to see how serious they are about collaboration … to have a public discussion to see what their skin in the game would be and what is the goal toward student achievement if we went down this road,” Kirkpatrick said.

She said that while she has tried in the past to reach out to the schools in her Commission District B, she doesn’t feel she has received the same courtesy from administrators at those schools.

“I have 55 schools in my district, and only seven principals will let us in,” she said.

Commissioner Larry Brown said he, too, would like to see more of a two-way street.

“The school district — from my perspective — does not have a great relationship as far as true partnerships with the county,” he said, adding that the county had shown its commitment to the schools.

Under the new law, the sales tax increase can be accomplished in one of two ways: by a two-thirds supermajority vote of the county commission, or via majority approval in a countywide vote.

Commissioners like Lawrence Weekly and Michael Naft said they’d like to see more accountability and transparency between the county and public, since the public generally didn’t have a say in the passage of AB309.

“Everybody didn’t have the opportunity to sit and watch the legislative session,” Weekly said. “It’s been sent down here to seven people (on the county commission) to make a decision to increase the tax.”

Weekly added that he thought the issue should be placed before Clark County voters.

In addition to raising money for public school districts, AB390 also allows proceeds from the sales tax to be used for a number of other programs, including workforce training, to relieve homelessness and boost affordable housing.

Brown said he would prefer to prioritize issues like homelessness, truancy and affordable housing since those are all “county issues.”

State lawmakers have expressed the desire for half the sales tax revenue raised under AB390 to go toward education, though that figure is not specifically mandated in the bill, Kirkpatrick said.

She said that if the county were to draft an ordinance to increase the tax, she would like to map out a clear set of objectives to ensure that entities receiving tax funds met those expectations.

Clark County spokesman Erik Papa said the county would announce a joint meeting between CCSD and the commission to discuss the viability of a partnership next week.

Kirkpatrick said she wanted the meeting to focus on student achievement and what CCSD would be willing to do to make that happen. But she is intent on learning what district officials are willing to do.

“I will not put a lot of effort into having a meeting if there’s not meaningful discussion about what possibilities we can do for this, for our community as a whole,” she said.