Annexations grow Las Vegas city boundaries
The city of Las Vegas is roughly 7 square miles larger than it was at the beginning of 2016.
Last year, Las Vegas gobbled up 222 acres of unincorporated Clark County land through annexations.
The last incorporation came in January, when the city added 4,503 acres of former Bureau of Land Management property adjacent to Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument and Red Rock National Conservation Area.
“The city wants that to be another significant master-planned type area,” Councilman Steve Ross said.
That move extended city boundaries to the west and northwest, but northwest Las Vegas has a patchwork look because of a number of unincorporated Clark County “islands” surrounded by the city.
The City Council is slated to conduct another round of annexations next week, with pending votes on two parcels totaling 6 acres.
A jurisdictional dispute between Las Vegas and Clark County seemed to reach a head in July, when county commissioners unanimously voted to establish a process to determine if the city had annexed land improperly.
The City Council and County Commission approved in December an interlocal agreement governing a number of land use issues in the northwest, which includes a provision that the city will not annex unincorporated county land in specific areas in the northwest unless the property owner initiates the move.
“We have a boundary line where the city isn’t going to proactively annex any land within,” Councilman Stavros Anthony said. “It’s not really an issue anymore.”
Of the city’s 39 annexations in 2016, 11 had residents living on the properties, which added 38 dwelling units and 115 residents to the city.
The unincorporated county land surrounded by the city of Las Vegas totals 8,862 acres, or nearly 14 square miles, according to Clark County data.
The city now wraps around the Paiute Indian Reservation. Beyond that is public land that could become Las Vegas territory, Ross said.
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.
City of Las Vegas annexations
*When a piece of unincorporated Clark County land is annexed by the city of Las Vegas, the taxpayer sees a roughly 20 percent increase in their tax rate, or an additional $193 per $100,000 of taxable value, applied in the first full year after the annexation. After that, the property is subject to the 3 percent property tax cap.
*Under an interlocal agreement the city and county reached late last year, city and non-city residents will pay the same rate for Las Vegas sewer service. Non-city residents can connect to the city's sewer system if the property owner provides the necessary infrastructure and pays sewer connection fees.
