Property Tax

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A coalition of construction industry groups today advocated for a tax increase to fund public works projects around the state to help put people back to work.
The Building Jobs Coalition presented its proposal, called the “Creating 100,000 Jobs” report, in press conferences in both Las Vegas and Reno.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval is considering giving Nevada’s higher education system more control to spend tuition and state funds.
As part of his budget, the governor may recommend a statutory change to allow colleges and universities more authority to manage their budgets with a lesser degree of legislative control, said Dale Erquiaga, the governor’s senior advisor.

CARSON CITY – Local governments would lose some property tax revenue to help fund higher education, and college students could face higher fees, in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget to be unveiled Jan 24.
Sandoval, in an interview on Jon Ralston’s Face to Face television program, said both elements are in consideration as his $5.3 billion general fund spending plan is finalized in advance of the 2011 legislative session.

Carson City property value assessments are due out Tuesday and will reflect a 8.7 percent cumulative average decline, Assessor Dave Dawley reports. It is the second year that Carson City has seen a cumulative decrease.

The figure represents a decrease of approximately $200 million of assessed valuation. Total assessed values last year were $1.59 billion and fell to $1.39 billion this year, Dawley reports.

Dozens of Nevada’s nonprofit groups, service providers and others met this week in Reno and Las Vegas to consider the looming threat of deep cuts to the state budget cuts which threaten to eliminate or dramatically reduce health care, education, and human services.

Service agency and nonprofit directors from Lyon and Storey counties attended the Monday meeting, hoping for insights on how to plan for the upcoming deep cuts to Nevada’s public education, health and social services that will hit the rural areas especially hard.

Carson City Manager Larry Werner told the Board of Supervisors today that they are hoping to wrap up work on cost estimates for the city's portion of the Nugget Project by the end of the day.

Werner said that these cost estimates would determine if they had a feasible project or not, compared with the funding that would be provided by a 1/8 cent sales tax increase and tax increment financing.

He told the board that the results would be presented to the citizen's committee, whose next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 27.

There is an interesting discussion going on over at the Nevada Appeal site concerning the Nugget Project.

The story begins two week ago when Guy Farmer wrote a rather harsh column that slammed the Nugget Project. In response, last week there was a guest column by Michael Douglass criticizing Farmer's take on the subject.

By now, you have probably heard about the fiasco in Bell, Calif., where city officials were being paid outrageous salaries while cutting services and raising taxes.

When the manager of a city of 36,000 residents takes home almost $800,000 a year, that's going to raise some eyebrows. And how did he and other city executives get these salaries? The elected officials in Bell gave it to them, along with $100,000 annual salaries for themselves, for their part-time jobs.

CARSON CITY – If a list of bills requested for drafting for the 2011 legislative session released today is any indication, a lot of lawmakers are concerned about people who use cell phones while driving.
Of the 152 bill draft requests submitted so far, mostly by lawmakers, three deal with cell phone use in vehicles: two to prohibit texting and a third to “restrict cell phone use� while driving.

CARSON CITY – If a list of bills requested for drafting for the 2011 legislative session released today is any indication, a lot of lawmakers are concerned about people who use cell phones while driving.
Of the 152 bill draft requests submitted so far, mostly by lawmakers, three deal with cell phone use in vehicles: two to prohibit texting and a third to “restrict cell phone use” while driving.

CARSON CITY – If a list of bills requested for drafting for the 2011 legislative session released today is any indication, a lot of lawmakers are concerned about people who use cell phones while driving.
Of the 152 bill draft requests submitted so far, mostly by lawmakers, three deal with cell phone use in vehicles: two to prohibit texting and a third to “restrict cell phone use” while driving.

CARSON CITY – If a list of bills requested for drafting for the 2011 legislative session released today is any indication, a lot of lawmakers are concerned about people who use cell phones while driving.
Of the 152 bill draft requests submitted so far, mostly by lawmakers, three deal with cell phone use in vehicles: two to prohibit texting and a third to “restrict cell phone use” while driving.

CARSON CITY – If a list of bills requested for drafting for the 2011 legislative session released today is any indication, a lot of lawmakers are concerned about people who use cell phones while driving.
Of the 152 bill draft requests submitted so far, mostly by lawmakers, three deal with cell phone use in vehicles: two to prohibit texting and a third to “restrict cell phone use” while driving.

Carson City Assessor Dave Dawley discusses how property taxes are
calculated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmWDuNM7gtw

An initiative petition has been filed with the city clerk to put the Carson City Center Project, AKA Nugget Project, on the ballot in 2012.

The petition asks, "The proposed 1/8 cent sales tax increase for the proposed Carson City Center Project (formerly known as the Nugget Project) shall be placed on the 2012 general election ballot for a vote of the people." Copies of the paperwork are attached below.

Tensions quickly arose during a discussion on the economic effects of illegal immigration at a town hall forum in Reno yesterday.
The keynote speaker, Dr. Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, said that immigration – both legal and illegal – creates a “fiscal drain� on public services that is significantly larger than the “miniscule� effect that they have on the per capita income of the nation.

The developer chosen for the Carson Nugget Redevelopment Project will be on hand tonight to answer questions about the project.

Rick Oshinski, CEO of Sacramento-based P3 Development, will appear before the Carson Nugget Development Advisory Committee tonight in the Community Center's Sierra Room.

Carson Now plans to show live video of the meeting, as well as hosting a discussion forum.

Many questions are sure to arise, concerning the details on the project and its scope, as well as the developer and how the company was chosen.

As I've been talking to people about this project, I've collected a number of questions, that I put together below.

A few thoughts about tonight's supervisor candidate forum (you can get our live blog of the event here, and the Nevada Appeal version here):

• All candidates did well. There were no obvious gaffs. A lot of times, these forums expose those not-ready-for-prime-time candidates. Not this time. All spoke well and knew the issues.

Nevada property tax practices are still an issue of contention.

Assessing $25 million in immediate needs, $10 million in enhancement and ongoing technology needs to keep school facilities operational for several years to come, Carson City voters could very well see their property taxes paid to schools decrease by 4 cents.

Members of the newly formed Carson Nugget Development Advisory Committee received an extensive briefing tonight on where the project is now, and what still needs to be worked out.

Nugget President Steve Neighbors and project consultant Mark Lewis were on hand to answer the committee's questions about the project before a capacity audience in the Sierra Room at the Carson City Community Center.

In a mixed bag meeting Thursday, city supervisors turned down a chance to raise property taxes $220,000 for their beleaguered city budget, but set into motion the process that could raise water rates

Carson City is no doubt swimming in the same economic pool that has gripped the nation. The latest city business report shows a mixed bag of economic news.

Water and sewer rate hikes may move a step closer Thursday when the Carson City Board of Supervisors will hear plans to issue up to $32 million in general obligation water bonds over 30 years.

Faced with the prospects of massive teacher layoffs, more state worker pink slips and shorter paychecks for those who stay, slashed services for the poor, the sick and the elderly, and the closure

Editorial by Dave Morgan

An article in the Nevada Appeal this morning attempts to get new information from the Nugget Project’s “go to guy,” Steve Neighbors. Neighbors, who is now the owner of the Nugget, is quoted as saying that the project still lacks a developer to shoulder the “private industry” half of the project. That’s about all that’s new from Neighbors, that they STILL don’t have a private partner.

By Phillip Moyer | Nevada News Bureau

A Department of Taxation workshop held today reviewed proposals to equalize property taxes, a requirement of the Nevada Sta

CARSON CITY – Gov.