Locals will be asked in November if they would agree to pay a 0.25 percent additional sales tax to fund the salaries of more than 25 new police officers.
For every $100 spent on taxable purchases, an additional tax of 25 cents would be generated exclusively for police services. The sales tax increase would be shared by residents, businesses and tourists alike, according to city spokesman Adam Mayberry, breaking down to about 40 percent from Sparks residents and 60 percent from tourists and businesses.
If the voters approve the idea, Sparks staff would head down to Carson City in February to petition the state Legislature for the tax increase to be implemented. This request would come in the form of a bill draft request (BDR). The City Council will vote on whether or not to put its legislative might behind the tax increase at its July 26 meeting.
Taxpayers and businesses would not see the hit to their wallets until after the Legislature approves the tax, if it does so. The Nevada Legislature convenes in February 2011.
The tax would generate $3.5 million annually to pay for 25 new police officers and five back-office staff, according to city staff reports.
A similar 0.25 percent sales-tax hike for public safety went before voters in 2006 as part of a county-wide ballot measure. It passed in Sparks and Reno, but failed in Washoe County, derailing Sparks’ efforts to hire additional police officers.
The city currently has 108 sworn police officers. That’s 66 below national standards for a city the size of Sparks, which has seen significant growth the past decade.
Adding the 25 officers would place the department at a staffing level last seen in 1986 in terms of officers per thousand residents, the staff reports said.
The vote to take the tax to the people for their opinion passed 3-1 with Councilman Ron Schmitt opposing.
“How do you plan to guarantee that this money will not be subsidizing the general fund later on?” Schmitt asked the council, voicing his opposition to one facet of the ballot measure.
Schmitt said he opposes putting the measure on the ballot because there was no way for the voter to be assured that, if the money were approved, it would go only to police. Schmitt wanted reassurances that the tax revenue would only go to police and that the police department’s budget would not be undercut to fill other departments’ holes in the future.
“I don’t want to use this $3.5 million as a gap-filler,” Schmitt said.
While the city is anticipating potential budget cuts down the fiscal year’s road, City Attorney Chet Adams said Schmitt’s concern would be addressed by the Legislature when they craft the tax itself and how it will work.
“There is part of that legislation that will meet many of the concerns that are being raised today,” Adams said. “If this goes through, the council will essentially be policed by the Nevada Legislature to make sure it is using the funds properly.”
Partially addressing Schmitt’s concern, the council voted to change the language in the ballot question’s explanation section. Previously, it read, “The tax shall not replace or supplant any funds currently expended by the city of Sparks on police services, and the city of Sparks shall separately account for all revenues and expenditures generated and paid for by the police services sales tax in a special fund, separate but a part of the general fund of the city.”
Now, that first clause reads, “The tax shall not replace or supplant any funds from the general fund expended by the city of Sparks on police services …”
Now that the question is in the hands of the voters, the Sparks council must decide if it will use its one and only bill draft request to petition the Legislature for the tax. That decision must be made before a September deadline, meaning the city’s BDR decision will come before the voters have a chance to chime in.
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