County greenlights connectivity plan 

April 3, 2015 
by Kurt Hildebrand
khildebrand@recordcourier.com

 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.”