Supervisors to name committees to write arguments on sales tax hike

The Board of Supervisors meets Thursday to pick the teams to write arguments for and against the sales tax ballot question.

The question on the November general election ballot asks Carson City voters whether they support raising the capital's sales tax rate by up to a quarter-cent to fund construction of a Knowledge + Discovery Center and public plaza portion of the proposed City Center project.

Under state law, a team of question supporters writes the pro-side of the argument while a team of opponents writes the negative side of the argument on any ballot question.

Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover has recommended two groups of three for those tasks.

To draft the 200-word argument for the ballot question Glover recommended former Supervisor Robin Williamson, Catherine Cunningham of the Library Foundation, and Sandy Foley, chairwoman of the Library Board of Trustees.

To draft the arguments against the proposed sales tax, he recommended Day Williams, who acted as counsel for the opponents during their petition drive and two key members of that movement: Dennis Johnson and Jim Bagwell.

Glover will present his recommendations to the board at its 9 a.m. Thursday meeting in the Community Center. The two teams have until August to draft their arguments.

If approved, the tax will be used to pay the estimated $28 million in bonds it will take to build the center. A quarter-cent tax is expected to generate $1.9 million a year - and more in the future as the capital's economy improves.

In addition, the board will take care of a laundry list of end-of-fiscal-year tasks ranging from adopting the property tax rates already approved by the state Department of Taxation, accepting several federal police and fire grants and disposing of surplus computer equipment to adopting contracts for professional services including inmate medical care at the city jail.

The sheriff's department grants include funding to continue efforts to reduce under-age drinking to continue regional gang and anti-drug enforcement efforts.