The city of Reno is asking lawmakers to vote for a bill that would allow municipalities with less than 700 thousand residents to put a property tax increase on the 2020 ballot.
The tax increase could not exceed one-twentieth of a percent, and all tax money would go directly to staffing police and fire departments, and getting equipment they need.
Director of Policy and Strategy for the city of Reno Dylan Shaver says State Senator Julia Ratti is still working on the final language, and they hope Bill Draft Request (BDR) 1288 will be heard this session.
Shaver acknowledges this is a last minute attempt, saying the legislative session is like college, you can submit things until the last day. But he says the reason they waited so long to pursue this option, was because they knew Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14 attempted to overhaul the property tax system in the state. Shaver says this would've been ideal, especially because it likely would've gotten rid of the property tax cap passed by the legislature in 2005.
Once it became clear SJR 14 was not going to pass, Shaver says they tried to find other ways to create some revenue, and came up with BDR 1288.
"This bill that we're talking about right now is not a tax increase, yet," Reno Fire Division Chief Seth Williams says. "It's giving local municipalities the ability to kind of control their own destiny."
"The beauty of the bill is that it puts the decision-making in the hands of Reno residents," Reno Police Deputy Chief Mac Venzon says.
Williams and Venzon both explained to us the need to hire more staffing.
"[We have] a force that is smaller than it was in 2009," Venzon says. "Nearly matching what it was in 1991, when we had half the geographic area and half the population."
"When you look at our staffing numbers we're close to what we had in 1999," Williams says. "Yet our call volume has gone up by 300 percent."
Williams says the first thing they would do with the tax money is fully staff two fire stations that operate, but don't have fire-fighting capabilities. They also don't have all the equipment they used to.
"We have a couple of fire stations that are open but staffed with two personnel instead of a fire-fighting apparatus which we prefer," Williams says. "We're down two trucks compared to what we used to have."
Earlier this month, Reno City Council added 12 new police officers to their budget. But Venzon says there's a long way to go.
"The twelve officers are great, they'll make a difference," Venzon says. "But if you look at what the national average is for police officers in cities our size on the west coast, we need nearly 100."
If the bill passes the legislature, Reno City Council would have to vote to put a property tax increase of their choice on the 2020 ballot. Then voters would have to pass that measure in 2020 for the tax increase to take affect.
Public safety officials say the residents will be the ones who benefit from the added staffing.
"Try to reduce some of those crimes of opportunity that occur," Venzon says. "Allow officers some proactive patrol time and not just hopping call to call to call."
"Additional firefighters on the street helps the safety of the firefighter, the safety of the citizen, as well as property conservation," Williams says.
The legislative session ends Monday.
