Authority for county tax hikes could be approved today; Update: Tax fails
As a Special Order of Business, the State Senate at 11:15 this morning will consider whether to override the governor's veto of SB 146. The bill would authorize county governments within the state to levy an additional ad valorem (property) tax in order to finance the detainment of children.
While this authorization would not on its own represent a tax increase, it will give county commissioners across the state the option of whether or not to raise property taxes. Authorization such as this can only come from the legislature.
If the bill is passed, it could lead to the first tax increases of 2009.
Update: The RGJ reports that the Senate has voted to accept the Governor's veto. (The RGJ's redesigned site looks really good, btw.)
There were no votes to override the veto of the 2007 proposal, which Gibbons said would have “almost certainly” led to increased property taxes in several counties without allowing voters to have a say.
Since this proposal, which likely would have led to tax increases, failed, Sen. Coffin is worried someone might think he's against raising taxes.
During brief discussion of the bill on Thursday, Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said the decision by the Senate to not override the governor shouldn’t be taken as an endorsement of “a particular position” against taxes.
“We’re going to have other bills come to us involving taxation of various kinds from the local governments, the elected representatives of those local governments,” Coffin said, adding that legislators “certainly ought to weigh decisions on their side.”
Don't worry Sen. Coffin, everyone in the state knows you want to raise taxes.
