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April
6, 2005
Vol 1, No. 7
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Commentary
What
the Ledge Hath Wrought
Evaluating the new
tax relief measure
By Steven Miller
The challenge the Nevada Legislature faced on
the property tax front was not that difficult.
As the Las Vegas Review-Journal pointed
out editorially, “All that was needed was a
straightforward plan to reduce government
revenues to what’s needed to fund minimum
required functions—or at least to freeze taxes
until such a plan could be devised.”
Legislative leaders, however, right from the
beginning ruled out such a modest approach. Its
fatal defect was precisely that it was
straightforward. It did not serve what the
evidence increasingly shows, session after
session, to be the primary goal of this current
crop of lawmakers: putting an ever-larger share
of Nevada’s private-sector resources—of your
resources—under their control.
So the Nevada Legislature is doing as it has
done every recent session: Faithfully serving
the wishes of
[more].
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Assessors
seek higher cap
on property tax liabilities
Nevada’s
county assessors like to pose as advocates for
taxpayers.
But for the last year, they’ve been drafting new
legislation that would substantially increase the tax
liabilities of every home or
business property
owner.
Two measures—Senate Bill 394 and Senate Bill 486—were
introduced the last week of March into the 2005
Legislature. Because most eyes were on the property tax
relief issue, the bills drew little attention. But they
reflect bill-draft requests 32-258 and 32-259, submitted
by the Nevada Assessors’ Association last July.
The state Senate’s Taxation committee—chaired by Mike
McGinness, R-Central Nevada Senatorial
District—introduced the bills on behalf of the
assessors.
Both of the measures are written to remove one of the
most important protections Nevada taxpayers have—NRS
361.228, which protects all manner of intangible
personal property from taxation.
[more]
Vegas Chamber
supports eminent domain reform
The Las Vegas
Chamber of Commerce is supporting a bill by Assemblyman
William Horne that would make it more difficult for
government to seize private land holdings through its
eminent domain powers.
Assembly
Bill 143 would strengthen the rights of property owners
by requiring the government to meet more tests before it
can declare a property “blighted” or rundown.
Chamber Government Affairs Director
Christina Dugan writes about the issue on the Chamber's
website.
She discusses the Pappas case and notes that under
current law, if the government finds that a piece of
property has
“inadequate provisions for ventilation, light,
sanitation, open spaces and recreational facilities,” it
can be classified as blighted. Similarly, a supposed
“faulty arrangement of the interior and spacing of
buildings,” can lead to property being categorized as
blighted.
Read Ms. Dugan's
article
here.
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