EDITOR:
Comments are in order about Harold L. Johnson's March 19 letter in The Record-Courier, for puzzling verbiage and seeming inaccuracies.
For example, in one sentence the words "you" or "your" seem to refer to unnamed individuals or entities associated with the proposed consolidation of Carson Valley's water utilities. A sentence or two later "you" or "your" seems to digress to Nevada as a state.
Confusion also appears in reference to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, with, as he writes, a "colored drawing" depicting rates of "increases in percentages of property taxes for every state in the union." Mr. Johnson said Nevada and five other states had over 50 percent property tax rate increases during 2000 to 2006. He continued that "your" past tax rate was one of the lowest and asked how a state that "really is only a desert with a few people" could have changed.
To begin, Wall Street Journal writer M.P. McQueen's article in the March 6-7 issue contained a map of the United States, not a "colored drawing," identified property tax collections, not tax rates. Nevada and eight (not the stated five) other states had property tax collection increases exceeding 50 percent from fiscal years 2001 through 2007 (not 2000 to 2006).
The increase in Nevada is logical.
We had the fastest growing population for two decades, with a construction boom and rapidly increasing inventory of taxable homes. Market demand and investor speculation caused land and home values to soar. Property tax collections increased, including on Mr. Johnson's well over $1 million home and property. Tax rate increases, however, were moderate, and in recent years our Nevada Legislature-imposed abatements have been in place.
Second, the article referenced Mark Robyn of The Tax Foundation for data to assemble state-by-state comparisons. The foundation cautions, however, that property taxes from state-to-state can be problematic because of nuances that can muddle comparison.
Third, Mr. Johnson said Nevada in the past had one of the lowest property tax rates and blames policymakers for changing that. The foundation's analysis suggests otherwise. One of its publications addresses state-local property tax burdens and ranks Nevada 28th in fiscal year 2007, at under 3 percent of per capita income. Another foundation study shows that since the 1970s Nevada repeatedly ranked 49th or 50th, the second lowest or lowest for total per capita taxes paid to Nevada governments.
While space limitations prevent attention to the March 19 letter's vague references and hyperbolic assertions, readers may want to consult the research studies at www.taxfoundation.org
Bill Hamilton
Minden
