County commission sets property tax levy

Tammi Beach the Vernon County clerk, explains to a local county resident the whys and hows of the current tax levy which has raised this year from .0995 in 2005 to .1584 in 2006. The increase raises some concerns for local farmers who are alreaedy feeling the crunch of the recession.

By Colette Lefebvre

Nevada Daily Mail

Talk of valuations on property and past and present tax levies were the topic the Vernon County commission addressed in a public hearing that occurred on Tuesday, Aug. 22.

Some concerned Vernon Countians were in attendance, voicing not only their confusion at the tax levy but their outrage as well. Tammi Beach, the Vernon County clerk, reported that the valuation on all property which includes, personal, real estate, state railroad and utilities is $210,895,439.

"That's up a bit from last year. Our levy is up due to last year's sales tax error. We overestimated... and there will be a rollback of over 50 percent due to the amount of the sales tax." said Beach.

The proposed levy for the year was set at .1584 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, because of the error that occurred last year. If there hadn't been an error last year, then the tax levy would only be set at .1231.

"The county was short $87,000 because of an error," Beach said. "And we can only recoup half of it, which is 41,000."

One local woman asked, "How much are we stuck for?"

Presiding Commissioner C. David Darnold explained that the levy is determined by a formula that comes from the Secretary of state.

Darnold said, "We reasses every two years. It is supposed to balance. I, too, often ask myself, 'when things get bad, why don't prices do down?'"

A concerned Vernon Countian could not understand why the prices are going up on her property for this year,

Darnold explained by saying, "Soybean prices stay the same but the price of diesel has gone up. Right?" Darnold also explained that the sheriff's department needs gas money, utilities are going up and the county is in a bind with respect to the jail.

"More people are being arrested and thrown in jail. We are supposed to project around 20 percent to 30 percent in our jail, the sheriff would like about 100 percent of our costs to go into it. It's a sad tale. Most counties are losing some of their population, luckily we're not too bad right now." said Darnold.

Tammi Beach, Vernon County clerk, said that property owners can calculate the county's portion of the tax themselves.

"If they look at their tax statements and then look at the valuation amount, divide it by 100 and times it by the levy amount which is .1584, then that will be the county's portion of the tax."

Neal Gerster stated that along with the other departments, the "county is just trying to survive."

The largest tax, according to officials and concerned citizens are the school districts, who according to commissioners "almost have to exist on a property tax alone."

Currently, the newly proposed tax levy for the county has been set at .1584, in 2004 the levy was set at .1281, and in 2003 it was .1633. The rates change every two years.