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Esmeralda County discusses whether to levy fire protection tax as audit and financing questions remain
Summary
County and fire district leaders debated whether medium-term financing would create a taxable general-obligation debt and whether the fire district must submit a separate budget and audit; the board tabled action and scheduled a special meeting for Jan. 27, 2026.
Esmeralda County officials spent much of a January 20, 2026, Board of Fire Commissioners meeting clarifying whether the county'created Esmeralda County Fire District must levy a Fire Protection tax and how planned borrowing and accounting should be treated.
Chief Jeffrey Bushnell, speaking for the county fire district, said he asked for the discussion to ensure transparency after auditors and staff began describing the district as its own entity. "The purpose of this agenda item today is to involve all relevant parties together," Bushnell said, asking the board to resolve confusion over budgeting and accounting so staff time is not wasted on plans that may not be required.
The dispute centers on two statutory pathways in NRS Chapter 474: districts created by election, which are required to levy a Fire Protection tax under statute; and districts created by a board of county commissioners, like Esmeralda County's district, where a tax is optional and may be levied only at the board's direction. Dan McArthur, the county auditor who reviewed the matter with staff, warned that medium-term financing for equipment could be treated as a general-obligation debt under Department of Taxation guidance and Nevada statute. "As I tell you, I am not an attorney, I'm an auditor," McArthur said, urging the board to request a legal opinion from the District Attorney to resolve the statutory interpretation.
Commissioners and other participants stressed practical funding options while avoiding immediate levies on residents. Former Commissioner Ralph Keyes urged patience and noted that ramping up emergency services often takes months or years. Commissioner Fred Perez said the county is pursuing developer contributions, grants and ambulance-billing reimbursements ahead of any decision to raise taxes.
Clerk LaCinda Elgan told the board that the Department of Taxation has asked the county to submit ordinance language, minutes and supporting documentation to show whether the fire district is a separate reporting entity. She also noted a departmental approval related to financing: the minutes record a previously approved request of up to $180,000 that must be demonstrated in a separate budget if the district is to show how it will repay borrowing.
No tax was adopted at the session. Commissioners agreed to request a written legal opinion from District Attorney Robert Glennen on whether the county's planned financing would legally require levying a tax. The board scheduled a special meeting to continue the item on January 27, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.; the minutes include an apparent typographical error listing "2029," which the clerk and staff stated at the meeting was unintended. The item was tabled to that special meeting; the board took no final vote on a tax or budget structure for the district.
The meeting ended with a procedural motion to adjourn, carried unanimously.
