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County treasurer seeks authority to bill junior taxing districts; council signals support for state bill
Summary
Clark County’s treasurer presented proposed legislation allowing treasurers to recover billing, collection and distribution costs from junior taxing districts; council agreed to support adding the bill to the county legislative priorities.
The Clark County treasurer and staff briefed the council Jan. 15 on a prefiled state bill — sponsored in the House by Representative Wiley and another sponsor — that would permit county treasurers to recover a portion of the costs for billing, collecting and distributing property taxes to junior taxing districts.
The treasurer said the county currently performs billing and distribution duties for school districts, fire districts, libraries, mosquito districts and others while the county general fund supports those administrative costs. Under the proposed legislation, junior taxing districts could be billed up to 1% of their levy for cost recovery; the treasurer estimated Clark County’s actual cost-recovery amount would run about 0.122% of levies, well under the 1% cap. For very small districts, the bill as drafted would exclude the first $50,000 of a levy from the cost-recovery calculation to limit hardship.
Treasurer representatives told council members the measure would allow recovery of about $1 million in revenue systemwide; part of that amount would come from non-county districts, with the county retaining a share covering its portion of administrative costs. The treasurer asked the council to place the bill on the county’s legislative priority list. Councilors responded favorably and agreed that staff and the county’s lobbyists should track the bill and, if the council adopts the priority, provide support such as testimony or letters during the legislative process.
Action: Councilors indicated support for advancing the treasurer’s proposal as part of the county’s legislative agenda; staff will coordinate with lobbyists and the treasurer’s office on next steps, including testimony when hearings occur.
Background: The measure was described as a comparatively technical, administrative bill intended to allow counties to partially recoup administrative costs rather than shift them to the county general fund.
