Becoming a town before becoming a city

Before Dayton can become a city, it first must become a town, organizers of the Dayton incorporation effort have decided.

On May 20, incorporation committee chairman Carl Swain will appear before Lyon County commissioners to ask them to put a question on the ballot asking if Dayton should become an unincorporated town.

Swain heads a group that will eventually seek incorporation for the west Lyon County community, which claims to be Nevada's oldest.

"This is a step," he said. "We know we need to get some education, some experience. That we need to walk before we can run."

Inspiration for the move came in part from Fernley, which was an unincorporated town for years before its successful incorporation effort.

Other unincorporated towns include Gardnerville and Minden, which have their own water systems, do street repairs, and advise Douglas County commissioners on matters affecting them.

Under Nevada law, an unincorporated town is funded through property taxes or other revenue from within its boundaries. In the case of Genoa, some of that money comes from its annual Candy Dance.

Swain said county commissioners have indicated they would be willing to consider making Dayton a town. Without commission approval, organizers would have to gather signatures from 51 percent of the voters who cast a ballot in the last election to establish a town or 10 percent of voters to get the question on the ballot.

"The county commissioners have all along indicated they would support an elected town board form of government as opposed to an advisory committee," Swain said. "A town board carries more weight, has more political clout."

Not all of the incorporation's committee members agreed, Swain said.

"It was a slim majority," he said. "A few were in favor of doing nothing; others wanted to establish an improvement district."

Swain said the committee's majority believed a town would give Dayton more of an identity than a district.

"With an improvement district you take over sewer and water and all the things that are on that menu of things, but we didn't feel the beginnings of an identity that we feel is missing."

Contact Kurt Hildebrand at hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1215.