Open Letter #17

OPEN LETTER #17 TO THE COMMUNITY FROM A TOWN BOARD MEMBER

Here is the Open Letter #17.  Feel free to contact me at twaters@pahrumpnv.org or 775-764-0949. 

As a DISCLAIMER, please understand that I speak ONLY for myself as a Town Board member and will provide accurate information as I see it through my research.  All information is reviewed by several entities to ensure there are no NRS violations. 

Don’t Raise My Taxes !!!!!! -
I was bombarded by comments such as this about the Pahrump Tax Rate.  The comments started with “Don’t raise MY taxes” but after the discussion they all added some of the following: 1) …but repair my roads,  or 2) … keep the same level of sheriff’s deputies for my safety, or 3) … keep the same level of fire protection or ambulance service for my safety, or 4) … don’t mess with our parks because we want MORE, or 5) … lengthen the time of day and calendar year for the swimming pool, and the list goes on and on and on.  The Town Board will vote on the final budget on May 16^th.  However, the Town has nothing to do with the roads or the Sheriff’s office and, for those services, the citizens will need to need to look at the Nye County budget and discuss funding levels with their County Commissioners. 

Please remember that the Town of Pahrump is responsible for the Fire Department, the Swimming Pool, the Cemetery, and the Parks.  Please remember too that the Town Board has not granted employees (except where mandated by union contract) ANY pay increases for at least four years. 

I’ll try to stay with the Town Tax Rate since we (the Pahrump Town Board) voted on April 24^th to approve a tentative tax rate increase of $0.0487 (a little less than the equivalent of five cents) from 0.4308 to 0.4795, all of which is subject to the residential 3% tax cap legislation. 

Well, if the Town Board approves the budget, does that mean that MY taxes will go up a nickel based on the new rate 0.4795 or 48 cents per one-hundred dollars?  That depends on several variables. 

The state of Nevada has several formulas to compute taxes and I know that Mr. Michael Sullivan can explain it far better than I can.  What the 3% residential tax cap legislation means is that your actual tax payment can NOT be increased more than 3% over the prior year.  It could also result, as in my case, that your taxes might remain the same or you may see a decrease. 

Remember, these are ANNUAL taxes, not monthly.  Let me use MY personal 2012-2013 Tax Bill as an example.  I will compare that to my 2010-2011 Tax Bill.  Look at your own tax bill to understand this better.  As you see, MOST of your taxes are for the County or the School District, and only a minuscule part for the Town of Pahrump (Pahrump Town and Pahrump Pool).  For simplicity, look at the Taxing Agency / Rate / Tax Amount. 

Taxing Agency      Rate    2012-2013 Tax Amount             2010-2011 Tax Amount
CO GEN              0.9819                          418.02                               868.49
ROAD                  0.0050                              2.18                                   4.36
AG EXT               0.0150                              6.39                                  13.10
MED & GEN IND 0.0798                            27.66                                 58.50
DED CO MED      0.0202                              8.60                                 17.64
AUTO ACC INDG 0.0150                             6.39                                13.10
MUSEUM (County)0.0117                             4.99                                10.21
JUVENILE PROB 0.1000                            42.57                                  87.31
HEALTH CLINIC 0.0395                            16.81                                  34.49
CAP PROJECTS   0.0177                              7.53                                 15.46
SPEC CAP PROJ  0.0500                            21.28                                 43.66
911 EMERGENCY 0.0050                            2.13                                   4.37
YOUTH SERVICE  0.0060                            2.55                                   5.24
SCHOOL DIST      0.7500                          319.28                               654.85
SCHOOL DEBT    0.5850                          249.05                               510.78
STATE                  0.1700                            72.36                                148.43
PAHRUMP TOWN 0.4308                      153.53                                212.17
PAH LIB DIST (County)0.0781                   27.38                                  36.58
PAHRUMP POOL  0.0145                          5.48                                    8.56

State NV Water Tax                                         1.00                                   1.00
Landfill – Single                                            30.00                                  30.00
Nye Water Dist Tax                                         5.00                                    0.00

My total PAHRUMP ANNUAL Tax for 2012-2013 is $159.01 and my PAHRUMP Tax for 2010-2011 was $220.73 for a REDUCTION over this 2-year period of $61.72 per year.  As you can plainly see, the Town “tax rate” went UP and my taxes went DOWN.  My total NYE COUNTY (CO GEN & Road) ANNUAL Tax nearly doubles that of the Town for 2012-2013 and is $420.20.  The remainder of my taxes went to either the State of Nevada or the County of Nye.  I ask only that you look at your own tax bill instead of listening to complainers who have absolutely NO idea of what they are talking about.  Listen to the auditor who proclaims year after year that the Town of Pahrump is fiscally responsible. 

Look at the total amount of ANNUAL taxes you pay to the Town for Fire protection (and Ambulance), Parks, Swimming Pool, and the Cemetery.  If you feel you are paying too much, maybe you should NOT call for an ambulance if you get sick or the fire department if there is a fire.  And, by all means, don’t die and need the cemetery.  The Town does NOT collect the remainder of your other taxes because that is for the State of Nevada or the County of Nye and, even though we are over 80% of the County, we are obligated to support our county as well.  However, don’t blame the Town of Pahrump when evidence shows we are not the culprits many falsely complain about. 

Questions??  Feel free to contact me, Mr. Kohbarger or Mr. Sullivan if you have questions or comments about this Open Letter. 

Dr. Tom Waters
Pahrump Town Board
twaters@pahrumpnv.org
775-764-0949