Incorporation, is it feasible?
“Show me the numbers!” This is the community’s plea across the valley concerning the incorporation debate. Rightly so, why buy a vehicle that can’t be afforded? The public should understand it is up to us as a community to ask the State of Nevada to perform the research that will show us the numbers.
Article 266 in the Nevada Revised Statutes describes the steps the community is required to take in order to accomplish incorporation. This article will discuss the petition for incorporation (NRS 266.018-266.026) and the day of election to incorporate (NRS 266.029-266.033).
Regardless of your stance on incorporation, the community deserves to discover whether or not it is feasible to govern ourselves and control the community’s future. Such a discovery can be made by beginning the path to incorporation found in NRS 266.
In order to initiate the incorporation process a petition to Clark County is made from the community. This petition signifies to the county that the community desires to incorporate. It does not necessarily mean that the community will incorporate. In fact, by signing the petition it only indicates the community’s interest to incorporate. The same individual that signs this initial petition will have an opportunity to vote against incorporating during the day of election that will be held at a later date.
The election comes at a later date so the research that has been done between the time of petition and the time of election will be manifest to the community. Therefore each member will have the knowledge to make an educated decision whether to incorporate or not.
This knowledge will include the fiscal effect of incorporation for this area. The research will be performed by the Nevada State’s Committee on Local Government Finance as well as the State Department of Taxation. NRS 266.023.1 says, “the Department of Taxation shall prepare a concise statement concerning the estimated fiscal effect of the incorporation on the residents of the proposed city, including an estimated tax rate and an example of that tax rate applied for 1 year to a median-priced home in the area of the proposed city compared to an example of the present tax rate in the area applied for the same period to the same home.” This is how we as a community can show ourselves if incorporation is feasible. This will also demonstrate to ourselves what the costs will be to govern ourselves and control the future of Moapa valley ourselves.
Many other factors will be considered in determining advisability of incorporation and the feasibility of the proposed city. These factors will be reviewed by the board of County Commissioners. The factors considered are listed in NRS 266.0285.
The petition to incorporate must be signed by registered voters within this community. The county will review the petition to make sure that only registered voters who signed the petition will be viable. (If you are not a registered voter and desire to have your voice count, go register to vote). It takes 1/3 of the registered voters in the community to have a valid petition to the county.
Look for future advertisements for upcoming meetings and events in the community to have the opportunity to sign the petition for incorporation.
THE INCORPORATION COMMITTEE
Rick Eide
David Grauman
Byron Mills
Ben Robison
Ryan Wheeler
This article was published in the Moapa Valley Progress on 2/11/09
Incorporation and Taxes…
It’s a community fear that if Moapa Valley incorporates we will have to bear this financial burden ourselves. What will we do? We don’t have a large commercial base, casinos, or industrial base to support a city. I don’t have all the answers, but I desire to share my insights on this topic.
If the community becomes an incorporated area, we do not need to become a Mesquite, or a Henderson. Nor do we need to provide sales pitches to businesses and tourists about our area in order to increase a tax base.
There are several geographic areas that have incorporated and have retained a small town lifestyle. These include: Boulder City, Kanaraville, Enterprise, Kanab, and LaVerkin. The closest to home would be Boulder City. Boulder City controls the annual building permits each year, an item this community may consider. My point is that we can become an incorporated area and not turn into a Henderson or a metropolis. We will need leaders that can plan growth around striving to maintain a small town feel and rural lifestyle.
If the community incorporates, the largest source of revenue for the city’s new operating budget will come from a consolidated tax distribution allotted monthly to the community. This is a general state fund that was set up to help local governments. Had we been incorporated last year, our allocation would have been $70,000 a month or $845,789.91 over the fiscal year for the city’s operating budget (Statistics taken from the Nevada Department of Taxation). I don’t know exactly what amount this would contribute to the cities operating budget, but I assume it would be about 40-60% of the budget.
In 2000, the University of Nevada Reno provided a study titled “Legal And Economic Considerations For Incorporation Of Nevada Towns”. This can be found at http://www.cabnr.unr.edu/uced/Reports/Technical/fy2000_2001/2000_01_02rpt.pdf
I would suggest anyone interested in learning more about incorporating to review this document. It is very insightful regarding the pros and cons of incorporating a rural area. In this study, UNR compares the operating budget of unincorporated towns to incorporated cities. Such comparisons are the city of Carlin (2680) [population] to the town of Minden (2400); city of Lovelock (2880) to the town of Gardnerville (2780); city of Yerington (2870) to the town of Tonopah (2760); city of Elko (19,760) to the town of Pahrump (18,790).
According to the mentioned study, the property taxes for the unincorporated towns were 21% of their total revenues. Incorporated cities from the study had property taxes at 9% of their total revenues. This shows that a city’s operating budget relies less on property taxes than other sources of revenue. Whether this would be the same for our community is still unknown.
The community’s current tax rate is 2.5191 or 0.025191%. This means that per $100 assessed value of property, we pay $2.5191 of that $100 to taxes. Through the Nevada State Tax rules, the tax rate can not exceed $3.64 per $100 assessed value. Realize that this is based on the counties assessed value, not what you think your property is worth. Compare the following other areas in the county and their property tax rates: Mesquite (2.7661), Laughlin (3.3407), Henderson (2.8973), Coyote Springs (2.7374).
I do not have the expertise to say exactly how our property taxes will be affected if the community incorporates. The method to discover this is to initiate the incorporation process. The property tax consequences will be analyzed. The proposed new property tax will be made known. As a community we can decide if such a cost is worth governing ourselves. We will also need to analyze the benefits of governing and planning the future of our Moapa Valley rather than rely on outside government and how the county plans for the future of their Moapa Valley.
I believe that the benefits to incorporate would outweigh the increase in taxes that may come. It is foreseeable that an increase will come, but property taxes will not be the sole revenue for the new city. The tax impact will likely be smaller than you anticipate.
Ryan Wheeler
Published in the Moapa Valley Progress on 2/4/09
Questions and answers
Depending on how long you have lived in the valley, the idea of incorporation may or may not be new to you. There are many questions, so I’m creating this post so that people can ask those questions. Please ask any question you’d like. Understand of course that we don’t have answers to everything yet, but we will do our best to answer all questions.
The purpose here is twofold: to disseminate information and also help us come up with questions we may have not thought of. So click on the comment box to the right of the title, and ask as many questions as you’d like.
Ben Robison
The Time Is Right, The Reason Is Right
Incorporation has been a topic of conversation for many years in this valley, but it has rarely moved beyond just conversation. It is interesting that the main reason for incorporating has remained largely unchanged. We have felt for years that we have not been adequately represented by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC). Recent events have made that painfully clear. While the BCC has the legal right to appoint anyone they desire to the town board, it is contrary to the very principles on which this country was founded. Our forefathers fought for self-government and representation, yet our elected officials don’t represent our will. In last week’s TAB meeting, Commissioner Collins stated that the county, with his oversight, has invested quite a bit of money in the valley for various services. A comment was also made that rarely, if ever, are we asked if we wanted or needed these services.
Providing services, no matter the quantity, without asking if we want or need that service, is NOT representation. Selecting town board members contrary to the democratically expressed will of the people, is NOT representation. This is what Commissioners Collins and Sisolak apparently fail to understand: we don’t want to be told what we need and don’t need; we can determine that for ourselves. This desire to self-govern is the essence of being American, and is what has made this the greatest nation in the history of the world.
Since our commissioners can’t understand that principle, it is time we take control, through incorporation.
It is time for us to come together as a community and make the decision to govern ourselves. The process that we have to take to successfully incorporate will require hard work, and a community effort, but in the end, we will have control - representation - of our valley.
Incorporation won’t solve all of our challenges, but it will give us the liberty to determine how those challenges are addressed. We will have representation that will listen; and if they don’t, we, the residents of Moapa Valley, will have the ability to replace them.
The time has come to stop blaming others for our dissatisfaction with our elected leaders and take control of the situation. We can start by creating a petition of registered voters who are in favor of looking at incorporation. The more signatures we collect, the stronger our voice will be. In the coming weeks, more information will be available about this petition drive, and the incorporation process as a whole. We need to come together as a community to accomplish this, so volunteers will be needed. Information on how to volunteer will also be announced in the next couple of weeks.
So, what does incorporation mean for the valley? It means that we will have the liberty to succeed - or fail - of our own accord. It means we will no longer be dictated to by residents of other cities, who understandably aren’t concerned about what happens in Moapa Valley. It means we are responsible for governing ourselves.
The time is right, the reason is right. It is time, once and for all to incorporate.
Ben Robison
Published in the Moapa Valley Progress on 1/21/09
A Community on the edge…
Whom to blame: Mr. Collins, Mr. Sisolak, the county, the state, or Mr. President Bush? How about ourselves? I believe that allowing our community to remain governed by the county for this long is our fault. This has left us vulnerable to leaders that may not represent our community’s common interests.
I hope the recent decision of the commissioners to not respect our community’s tradition of the straw poll vote will inspire us to stand on our own feet and govern ourselves. Moapa Valley Incorporated!
I remember the local schools’ recent jubilation in learning that they had been selected to be empowerment schools. Essentially, each school selected has more control over their own destiny rather than being reined by the Clark County School District. We need this same empowerment on a local government level.
Our valley recently experienced what might be termed a “close call” of multiple large scale developments being built here. I would expect that as a community we realize that such development will come again. We need to incorporate to properly handle the terms of these developments.
Our town board members have done the best to their knowledge with the jurisdiction that has been allotted them. It is time to move to the next level.
I believe that I do not need to convince readers of the benefits of incorporation. The majority of Moapa Valley knows this is the direction the community should pursue.
NRS 266.018.1 discusses the “Notice to Incorporate” that needs to be completed in order to start this process. “If a committee of five qualified electors wishes to organize an incorporated city, it may file a notice to incorporate with the county clerk”.
This process should have been started 10 years ago, but that is water under the bridge. What should we do about today? I plead for our town board or incorporation committee or “five qualified electors” to initiate this process today. Place it on the next town board agenda and get it done.
NRS 266.034 in summary states that the costs to perform the provisions relating to incorporation are covered by the county if the area is not incorporated. If the area is incorporated, the costs fall on the newly incorporated city. I would suggest hiring a firm to have these studies completed. This would enable the process to be completed efficiently.
Many locals fear what will happen to this great community that we live in if we incorporate. However, I fear what will happen to this community if we do not incorporate.
The process will take time, a year or two, but it is definitely better than further procrastination. We need to control what happens to our community. Right now we have no control.
Moapa Valley Incorporated, it’s the right decision and the right time. Let’s get this done!
Ryan Wheeler
Published in the Moapa Valley Progress on 1/14/09