Carson City officials watch as legislative deadline passes

The bills being watched by Carson City government were subjected to various fates on Friday when the deadline to pass bills out of the house of origin hit.

A handful of bills died, meaning the committees took no action by the deadline, but there is always the possibility any could be resuscitated as amendments to related legislation later in the session.

Among them was Assembly Bill 43, which would have set a floor on property tax increases, primarily affecting commercial properties by setting a bottom threshold of 3 percent.

The bill’s sponsors said it was designed to correct the unintended consequences of the property tax cap put in place by a 2005 bill that uses a complicated secondary cap formula.

In other property tax actions, Senate Joint Resolution 14 was introduced last week by Sen. Julia Ratti, D-Sparks, a constitutional amendment that would change the way property taxes are calculated so older and newer homes with the same market value would be paying similar property taxes.

Currently, Nevada is the only state to factor in depreciation so older homes with the same market value as newer homes pay less property taxes.

AB140, too, faltered. Introduced by Assemblyman Al Kramer, R-Carson City, the bill would have redrawn the county line between Carson City and Washoe County to move 22 parcels and 11 homes on Duck Hill Road into Carson City.

The legislation was requested by residents there who say they don’t receive adequate services, including emergency services, from Washoe County.

AB153, introduced by Assemblyman Skip Daly, D-Sparks, was gutted during its hearing in Assembly Government Affairs.

The bill would have allowed counties to assess impact fees for development projects in other counties. It was driven by Tahoe Reno Industrial Center in Storey County, which has affected surrounding counties, including Washoe County.

There was discussion of changing the bill to create an interim study on the issue, but no action was taken before the Friday deadline.

AB285, introduced by Kramer, would have split the proceeds from the sale of the Clear Creek Youth Camp between Nevada Department of Transportation’s Highway Fund for repair of Old Clear Creek Road and for the rehabilitation of Stewart Indian School, to which the money is currently dedicated.

The bill was heard in late March but no action was ever taken.

A few bills of interest to the city lived to see another day, among them AB246 and Senate Bills 57 and 439.

AB246, sponsored by Kramer, would allow neighboring counties to jointly create improvement and tax increment districts that include portions of both counties for specific projects.

The bill initially specified street projects and the impetus behind it is Old Clear Creek Road, which crosses several property boundaries, including Carson City and Douglas County.

An amendment removed the road project restriction and added language allowing the entities to issue bonds to finance such projects, and the bill passed out of Assembly Government Affairs last week.

SB 57 passed out of Senate Government Affairs.

The bill would reduce the nine-member Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway to five by removing representatives from Douglas, Lyon and Washoe counties, the Virginia and Truckee Historical Railroad Society, and members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Majority Leader.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors and Storey County Commission would each retain a designated member, and the member appointed by the governor would remain, while representatives from the Carson City Visitors Bureau and Virginia City Tourism Commission would be added.

SB 439 would allow county commissions in counties with populations of less than 100,000 to impose up to a 5 cent tax on diesel fuel for road maintenance.

It passed out of Senate Revenue and Economic Development.

If the bill makes it all the way, Carson City could expect to collect $217,993 based on its 2016 sales of diesel fuel if the Board of Supervisors imposed a full 5 cent tax on it.