Create the Nevada Job Bonds Support Fund
Require State and Local Governments to Dedicate Annual Appropriations / Authorizations
Eliminate Tax Rate Sunsets Dedicated to Capital Projects
Provide a Streamlined Permitting Process and Permit and Planning Fee Abatements
Index the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax
Top 5 Strategies
For Creating Jobs in Nevada
1
Create the Nevada Job Bonds Support Fund, a Stable, Dedicated Revenue Source for Capital Projects »
Providing for public infrastructure is a fundamental obligation of government. Without roads, bridges, buildings, and other public facilities, businesses could not conduct commerce and individuals could not participate in their government or avail themselves of necessary services. Infrastructure is a necessity, not a luxury, and its construction and replacement should not depend on realization of unpredictable surpluses or inordinate amounts of borrowing.
2
Only in recent years has government begun to account for depreciation of assets in its financial statements, and it is becoming clear that the state and local governments are not keeping up with major maintenance of core infrastructure. Regardless of the idea that depreciation is a non-cash expense and not always representative of the cost of actual maintenance required during the period, it is fiscally unsound to construct physical projects without specific plans to fund their upkeep and/or eventual replacement. Highlighting this issue in the current biennium based on a cursory review of financial statements reveals the following examples.
3
One example of this type of opportunity relates to the ¼ of 1 percent tax dedicated to water and waste water programs in southern Nevada. NRS 377B.100 currently requires the ordinance imposing this tax to provide for the cessation of the tax when the total sum collected exceeds $2.3 billion, or on June 30, 2025, whichever is later. The combination of the prolonged decline in taxable sales and the long-term needs for water and wastewater capital investment has rendered the original projections for this financing program obsolete. Consideration should be given to repealing the sunsets for both the dollar amount and the time frame. This strategy could be immediately effectuated by amending NRS 377B to remove the sunset on ¼ cent water and wastewater infrastructure tax in Clark County.
4
Planning hurdles create a formidable obstacle for construction, development and design industries. At times, developers may have an opportunity to convert a vacant or underutilized property to a higher or better use, but they cannot because antiquated regulations do not permit the conversion, or obtaining the desired use permits is such a long and costly process that it makes the project impracticable or infeasible. One potential strategy would be to mandate an accelerated process and to abate permitting and planning fees where a project meets a set of established criteria such as: (1) puts underutilized property to a higher and better use; (2) the project would be completed in less than 12 months; and (3) the project would create more than 50 net new Nevada jobs.
5
Presently, all fuel taxes, except those in Washoe County are flat amounts per gallon, effectively restricting growth in revenue to growth in number of gallons sold, a manner of taxation unresponsive to increases in vehicle fuel economy and the cost of construction.