Association opposes tax initiative

The Nevada Taxpayers Association, composed primarily of business people, has voted to oppose an initiative petition designed to cap increases in property taxes.

Carole Vilardo, executive director of the association, said the 44-member board of directors believed the proposal by Assembly members Sharron Angle and Don Gustavson, both R-Reno, was too confusing and contradictory.

They want to roll back property taxes to a maximum of 1 percent of taxable value and limit any increases to no more than the increase in the Consumer Price Index each year or 2 percent - whichever is smaller.

But it would also eliminate the tax on business inventories and would allow owners of older properties which have lower taxes because of depreciation to buy a new property and transfer that old, low rate to the new property.

"It was the concern of the board that it would result in more litigation than it would provide relief," said Vilardo.

She said one part of the proposal could be interpreted to say that, if a piece of property was added to the tax rolls after 2001, it can never be added to the rolls.

She said that happens when the federal government releases land which allows the public to buy it.

"We can't determine: Does it freeze the property tax rate, or does it say if it wasn't on the rolls, there will never be a tax on it?"

Vilardo said another problem is that rolling the property taxes back to a base calculated on the 2001 taxes could actually increase property taxes dramatically in some rural counties which have lost valuation. She said many businesses in those counties are already in a fragile condition.

"There are too many places where you have to interpret as to what does this really mean," she said. "It's extremely confusing."

She said taxpayers association directors want a "clean" tax reform plan that doesn't raise legal issues that would wind up in court.

Angle told a reporter the taxpayers association has a record of supporting increased taxes. She said most people don't know what the taxpayers association is and she doubts its opposition will prevent them from gathering the 50,000 signatures by June 15 to get on the ballot.

Responding to Angle's remarks, Vilardo said the association has "a record of 82 years that proves otherwise."

"We're not anti-taxes," she said. "We're for that level of taxation which is necessary for what is needed, for taxes that are clear and understood and for government that is efficient."

Contact Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.