Bill would shift tax data from newspapers to Web

CARSON CITY -- The state Senate voted Monday to give final legislative approval to a bill to let officials around Nevada publish an annual list of property taxpayers and their property values on an Internet Web site rather than in newspapers.

AB307, going to Gov. Jim Gibbons, started out as a proposal that would apply only in Washoe and Clark counties, Nevada's population centers, but was amended to include all counties. Besides the property tax information, the measure also applies to lists of delinquent taxpayers.

If Gibbons signs the bill, newspapers in the state will lose a revenue source. Papers have been struggling with declining advertising revenue and have cut staff and pages.

Assemblyman Paul Aizley, D-Las Vegas, sponsor of AB307, said Clark County spends $500,000 a year to print property tax rolls in the newspaper. Washoe County spends about $70,000 a year.

Barry Smith, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, had said the change would diminish access, and he pointed to the 300 agencies in Nevada that have their own Web sites. While the Web sites are helpful, he said they become "a maze of 'Where do I go to find what?' "