Henderson’s property tax rate is increasing

Henderson City Council members unanimously approved a budget Tuesday that includes a property tax rate increase of 3 cents per $100 in assessed value.

Chief Financial Officer Jim McIntosh told council members the increase will not affect the vast majority of existing residents because of Nevada’s property tax cap, which protects homeowners from increases of more than 3 percent.

Because most homes already increased in value by 3 percent or more, the new tax will not apply to them, at least in the near term.

Businesses are also protected by a tax cap, McIntosh told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Instead, the tax increase is intended to gather more revenue from new commercial developments coming to the city.

The $679 million fiscal year 2022 citywide budget includes a general fund of nearly $296 million. The fiscal year begins July 1.

In next year’s budget, about 58 percent of the general fund will be allocated to public safety.

The city’s budget includes funding for the construction of a new police station and training center in west Henderson, the hiring of 15 new police officers and the construction of a new crime lab.

The city will add four positions to its development services center to aid in the growth of west Henderson.

Henderson’s budget also includes funding for a workforce training center that will be built just southeast of Volunteer Boulevard and Via Inspirada in the western part of the city.

In a statement, Henderson City Manager Richard Derrick said the city did not need to dip into budget reserves.

“Next year’s budget demonstrates the City’s resiliency and strong determination by City leadership and staff to make tough decisions to balance the budget while delivering uninterrupted services to the community in the midst of the pandemic,” Derrick said.

McIntosh said the city implemented a hiring freeze outside of public safety roles, cut a tuition reimbursement program and cut budgets for travel and training. City employee unions were also asked to extend their contracts without cost-of-living raises.

But in the next fiscal year, he said, budget cuts will be restored and the hiring freeze will be lifted. Union contracts are still being negotiated.

The budget impact from the pandemic was not nearly as bad as originally projected, largely because federal stimulus money was not factored into those early projections, McIntosh said.

Still, the city has taken a revenue hit.

Initially, the city was expecting to lose about $50 million of revenue from the consolidated tax, largely made up of sales tax, between the end of fiscal year 2020 and all of fiscal year 2021. Now, the total estimated losses from those fiscal years is closer to $32 million.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.