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Jul. 23, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Counties to verify signatures

Secretary of state says tax cap initiative can move forward

By SEAN WHALEY
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU

Sharron Angle
Candidate has pushed 2 percent annual cap on property tax increases

CARSON CITY -- An initiative petition pushed by state Senate candidate Sharron Angle to cap property taxes has enough raw signatures to move the qualification process for the November election to the next phase, the secretary of state's office reported Tuesday.

The initial count, which does not take into account whether the signatures are from registered Nevada voters, is sufficient in all 17 counties to move to the verification process. A total of 83,600 signatures were turned in, more than the 58,628 needed to qualify for the ballot.

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Secretary of State Ross Miller directed all 17 county registrars and clerks to verify the signatures.

For larger counties, that involves a random examination of 5 percent of the signatures turned in to determine if they are from registered voters. In smaller counties, all the signatures are checked.

County officials have nine days to perform the review.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said Angle turned in over 50,000 raw signatures. She needs just over 40,000 valid signatures in Clark County. Other, smaller numbers are needed in the 16 other counties.

Angle's petition was given a chance to qualify for the ballot after the Nevada Supreme Court last week ruled the Legislature imposed an unconstitutional deadline for initiative petitions to be turned in to county clerks.

Angle's proposed constitutional amendment would limit property tax increases to 2 percent per year, rather than the current cap of 3 percent for homeowners passed by the Legislature in 2005, until a property is sold. If the measure is on the ballot and voters approve it, it would have to pass again in 2010 before it could take effect.

Angle, a former member of the Assembly and a candidate for Congress in 2006, is running in the Republican primary against Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno.

Angle has been pursuing her constitutional amendment for several years without success. The Legislature has put a 3 percent cap on increases to property tax bills for most homeowners in state law, but Angle said the cap can be changed at will by lawmakers.

A constitutionally imposed property tax cap would ensure that it could never be reversed without a vote of the people, Angle said.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: ths wrote on July 23, 2008 10:45 AM: The ignorance of this state is shown. Yes their is waste, I won't disagree, but this state still does so much with so little in taxes. We collect and spend a fraction in taxes compared to the national average and you wonder why we rank in the top 5 and 10 for the worst education, transportation network, mental health support, child wealthfare and safety and so on and so on. We are not a third world country and we are not third world people. The only reason why some homeowners are having a hard time is they over spent and never created a savings. JC wrote on July 23, 2008 09:19 AM: I agree it is about time. There are already people in the State government and unions talking about getting rid of the 3% cap because they are having a tough time paying their bills. Well, homeowners are having a hard time too. State government needs to quit wasting money and learn to live within its means, not raise taxes every time the economy has a downturn. ths wrote on July 23, 2008 07:53 AM: Only in Nevada do the citizens think this is a good proposal. It has been proven that Prop 13 has done more harm to CA then good. It has hurt people that want to buy up and hurt basic services. If you want libraries open 2 days a week for four hours, even worse roads then we have now, and worse budget crisis then this is for you. I am one that is happy with 3% and it will as well allow me in the future to buy a bigger house without worrying about higher property tax as it resets under a new owner. With the current cap it stays with the property and does not reset. We are in the worse housing crisis since the great depression and this concept will just slow down buyers even more. When can we put people into office and have people running for office that are not self serving. We already have low property tax and taxes in general. How greedy can one get? lp wrote on July 23, 2008 04:23 AM: Great. Its about time. We'll sign it. Tell us where and when. Time to stop the glut of money going to a corrupt government, who abuses the tax payers in all sorts of ways. Only in Nevada..