Bill to Sharply Increase State Property Tax Fails

Proposed legislation that sought to significantly raise Nevadans’ property taxes is dead.

Senate Bill 96, which would have eliminated the state’s 3 percent cap on annual property taxes and instead replaced it with a mandatory hike of at least 3 percent every year, failed to advance out of committee.

This is great news for Nevadans, who could have seen their property taxes increase by as much as 8 percent each and every year had the bill passed.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Dina Neal, D-Clark, was heard by the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee last month, but no action was taken.

Currently, property taxes increase by an amount equal to either the growth rate of assessed property values, or an amount double the rate of inflation, whichever is greater. The law also imposes a 3 percent cap on the annual increase of property taxes for certain single-family residences.

SB 96, which would have hurt some of the most vulnerable Nevadans, was unalloyed bad policy.

Among reasons the 3 percent cap was put in place years ago was to prevent individuals, particularly retirees and those on fixed incomes, from being priced out of their homes by skyrocketing property tax rates. In addition Nevada has a billion-dollar surplus and does not need to raise taxes.