BARBWIRE
 Last week's outcry about skyrocketing Reno-Sparks property taxes traces
back 35 years. Some downtown Reno hotel-casinos had gone without
reassessment since 1962 when the late, great Washoe County Manager Russ
MacDonald imposed a computer-assisted appraisal program (CAAP) on the
assessor's office in 1976.Don Peckham and staff were hopelessly behind and far out of compliance
with state law, which still orders properties reassessed at least every
five years. MacDonald took the bull by the horns, impaling Peckham on one
and me on the other.My firm was hired by the three local governments to disseminate the good
news (computerized efficiency) and the bad (resulting tax increases).The three governments asked several PR firms to bid on the unenviable job
of positively explaining it to the public. (Translation: save our assess
politically.) I was the only guy dumb enough or hungry enough to show
interest.I did a masterful job of getting out accurate information via the media
while doing so in such a manner as to keep people with pitchforks and
torches from tarring and feathering assessor Peckham.Unlike today, there was no mass outrage at a humongous tax increase. Where
Peckham and his staff expected small arms fire, they got no more complaints
than a normal year. (Anyone wanting to know just how I did it will have to
pay an exorbitant consulting fee.)That experience gives me credentials to address the causes of the current
smell of tar in the air. The 1976 computerization and public relations may
have smoothed ruffled feathers, but did little to solve the underlying
problem of public outrage caused by real tax inequities. The system remains
today more than ever biased against the little guy and in favor of big
business.The CAAP program was supposed to make last week's huge property tax jumps
a thing of the past. Physical inspection would take place every five years,
but computer comparison would annually factor values up or down, based on
actual sales of similar properties.Alas, Russ MacDonald's attempt at equity and efficiency was foiled later
in 1976 when California passed Proposition 13, the Jarvis-Gann initiative.In 1978, ole Howard Jarvis hisself came to Reno-Sparks to kickstart a
stalled drive for a similar proposal. Nevadans overwhelmingly voted for it
that year, but killed it in 1980 amid glowing promises from GOP Gov. Robert
List that he had a better idea. He didn't.His long-secret proposal involved a "tax shift" cutting property taxes by
raising sales taxes, about 75% of which are paid by Nevadans. The 1981 "tax
shaft" not only transferred a tremendous amount of the burden to low wage
earners, it also mandated that most local revenues go to the state for
legislative redistribution. This has caused great inequities and endless
north vs. south "fair share" wars.Unlike property taxes, sales and gaming revenues are unstable. During
economic slumps, teachers and students have gotten seriously shortchanged.
The tax shaft helped defeat List for re-election in 1982.When the shaft passed, it also mandated a flaky new way of assessing
residential property. The owner of a 75 year-old million-dollar mansion now
pays far less tax than a family in a new entry-level tract home. Worse, the
'81 tax shaft froze property valuations at 1978 levels, some of which still
astoundingly dated back to 1962, giving a windfall to casino district fat
cats. The tax money lost through assessment paralysis will never be
replaced.State control has resulted in an increasingly frustrating patchwork of
user fees and special charges to fund growing municipalities. Washoe County
residents pay one of the highest gasoline taxes in the country. Sales and
fuel levies represent the worst sort of regressive taxation: the lower your
income, the higher the percentage you pay.Our earmarked empires make matters much worse. To promote casinos,
property tax increases in Reno and Sparks downtown redevelopment districts
go into the black hole of corporate welfare (more than $150 million so
far). The impacts of new jobs created downtown are thus largely born by
non-downtown dwellers forced to make up tax deficiencies for roads, parks,
police and fire protection.The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority does much the same. For
the past 37 years, it's skimmed hundreds of millions in room taxes to
clumsily promote tourism and build mostly-inefficient facilities. The room
tax was originally sold to the voters in 1960 as a way to fund parks and
recreation, but no money went to local use for more than three decades.Downtown gamblers fear the convention authority may approach insolvency
next year. Then, Washoe County property owners will get stuck for the red
ink, just as Al Davis and his aptly-named Raiders raped Oakland.Big business does not have to suffer like homeowners. Computers or not,
it's easy to develop information on recent sales of comparable dwellings.
Hotel-casinos very seldom turn over, so they get assessed on market value
based on profits. If profits dip, casinos get their taxes lowered. Last
January, the Reno Hilton accomplished that trick to the tune of about
$437,000 a year. John Ascuaga's Nugget scored roughly $100,000 annually
beginning in 1995.The chair of the Washoe County Board of Equalization dissented from the
Hilton decision, stating that while the reductions may reflect the law,
that doesn't make them fair.Pile these local and state inequities onto a federal tax system which has
likewise offset huge cuts to corporations with increases on individuals,
and you begin to understand the misplaced anger of the Reno guy who snorted
he's voting against the next school bond because his taxes went up. That's
how we do it in this country. Penalize the grade-schoolers who can't vote.It's time to re-direct that rage toward the right people.POETIC JUSTICE DEPT. In perhaps an ominous omen for the Reno Hilton, the
hotel's application for a carny thrill ride was turned down by planning
commissioners last Wednesday. Ironically, Las Vegas Culinary Union CEO Jim
Arnold was in town at the same time. What on earth could impel the leader
of the largest union in the state to stay in Reno for three days?My spies report that he was very possibly negotiating with Hilton top
management. As I exclusively reported a few days ago at
U-News, Arnold is making union recognition by the two northern
Nevada Hilton properties a condition of a new contract for most major Las
Vegas Strip hotels. That's a thrill ride poorly paid local workers will
love to take.Be well. Raise hell.
Andrew Barbano, a Reno-based syndicated columnist and 29-year Nevadan, is editor of U-News. Send an E-mail, especially if you
want to join NAGPAC '98.
Barbwire by Barbano has appeared in the Sparks Tribune since 1988 and parts of this column were originally published 12/7/97.Nevada Instant Type in Sparks and both Office Depot Reno locations. |
|
 |
|