Carson City's budget for next year includes an 18-cent jump in the property tax rate for new construction, an increase that a builders representative said is appalling in this economy.
The board of supervisors will vote on the budget Monday.
The rate, which would mostly affect new construction, would increase from about $3.13 per $100 of assessed value to about $3.31 per $100 of assessed value. A home assessed at $100,000 would pay $180 more in property taxes.
Under a 2005 state law, property taxes can only go up 3 percent a year on existing homes and 8 percent a year on existing commercial properties, regardless of tax rate increases.
But new properties pay the full property tax rate in the year it's built.
The city expects to get about $1.1 million more in property taxes next year compared to the $17.5 million expected to be collected this year.
The city has been steadily raising the tax rate since the state capped property taxes, said City Finance Director Nick Providenti.
Rick DeMar, chief executive officer of the Builders Association of Western Nevada, said he is "appalled" by the proposal to raise the property tax rate.
Raising the rate hurts builders by discouraging potential homeowners or businesses from moving into a new building, he said.
"We are in an economic situation where the city should be kissing people's feet to turn a spade of dirt," he said.
The city has projects and purchases it should cut before raising the property tax rate, said Dwight Millard of Carson City-based Millard Realty.
"I don't mind them raising it if they have done everything possible to cut waste and excess," he said, "but I don't think they've done that."