County greenlights connectivity plan
While seeking a buffet of ordinances to
implement its connectivity plan, a nickel gas tax appears like it will
be the most popular dish after Thursday’s Douglas County commissioners’
meeting.
“I’m ready to bite the bullet on the gas tax,” Commission Chairman Doug Johnson said Thursday.
Since any ordinance to approve a tax increase requires two readings, it will be July 1 before any tax can be implemented.
In addition to the gas tax, proponents Jacques and Dominique
Etchegoyhen presented a plan to use a quarter-cent increase in sales tax
and an increase in utility fees to raise $4.1 million a year. They said
that money could leverage bonds and matching funds to pay for the $25
million revitalization of Stateline and a bypass around
Gardnerville-Minden. Commissioners approved the priorities in the plan
as presented.
County Vitality Manager Lisa Granahan broke the taxes proposal down for county commissioners.
The quarter-cent sales tax would raise $1.5 million and can only be
used for infrastructure, including road construction and maintenance. At
7.1 percent, Douglas County’s sales tax is lower than either Carson
City’s or Washoe County’s, and would continue to be if increased to 7.35
percent.
The nickel gas tax is
charged by 11 of Nevada’s 17 counties, including Carson City and Lyon
County. Washoe County charges 32 cents a gallon in an indexed tax.
“Motor vehicle fuel prices are driven by the market,” she said. “Fuel prices here are comparable to those in other counties.”
The gas tax would raise $900,000 a year.
Far more complicated is the 2.5-percent utility operator fee, which will eventually raise $1.6 million a year, Granahan said.
The county may only increase the fee 1 percent every 24 months. While
able to increase the fees on electricity and telecommunications by 2.5
percent, the county only has a half-percent left on natural gas. The fee
isn’t assessed on sewer, water, propane, cable television, satellite
television or Internet access. State law does not limit the use of
utility fees, but the ordinance enacted by the county could.
Jacques Etchegoyhen said a third of the sales and gas tax would be paid by visitors to Douglas County.
Johnson said he had an issue with the utility fee because it would have
the greatest effect on people with the least, and that he would prefer
to keep it handy, should an emergency demand additional revenue.
Supporters of the connectivity plan, and the three tax increases
required to implement it represent the county’s major business groups,
including the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of
Douglas County, the Tahoe Chamber and the South Tahoe Area Resort
Association.
“I find myself in the
unusual position of supporting, not one, not two, but three incremental
taxes,” Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bill
Chernock said. “At the Lake, there is no question. Hearken back to the
days at Lake Tahoe when you could count on gaming revenue of $350
million as reliable as snowfall. Tahoe still has what it takes to resume
its place among top tier resorts.”
Only three people spoke in opposition to the plan, including rancher
Nate Leising, who pointed out the utility fee would affect his ability
to pump water.
Leising served on the
planning commission in the 1990s with Jacques Etchegoyhen and said he
believed that the proposal was too urban for Carson Valley.
“It’s awesome, but it’s an urban plan,” he said. “Agriculture cannot
support city stuff. Agriculture is land rich and money poor in the
Valley. I’ve thought for a long time that you should incorporate
Stateline, Minden-Gardnerville and the Ranchos. Then you can address
city stuff there.”
Leising estimated he spends $10,000-$15,000 a month on electricity to pump water.
In his comments, commissioner Steve Thaler addressed Leising’s concerns, saying he didn’t think this was an urban plan.
“We’ve got a lot of people investing a lot of money in this community,”
he said. “They’re banking on our future. Yes, I’m Republican, yes I’m
conservative, but that has nothing to do with doing the right thing.
This is the right thing for our community.”
Commissioner Nancy McDermid asked that county staff bring back the
ordinances to implement the plan, including those addressing any funding
sources County Manager Jim Nichols might decide are applicable.
“I want to propose that we direct staff to bring back implementing
ordinances to establish funding sources with the caveat that the county
manager evaluate any and all additional funding sources,” McDermid said.
Thaler pointed out that whatever commissioners choose, there will be two more hearings before anything is put in place.
Commissioner Barry Penzel said that if this is the best plan, he would vote for it.
“It’s clear we are going to have to do something,” he said. “But are we
doing the smartest thing? If I can assure people in the electorate this
is, in fact, the best way to do this, then I can vote for it.”
