SUMMARY--Authorizes imposition of certain taxes for certain projects related to infrastructure. (BDR 32-1485)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to taxation; authorizing counties to impose sales and use taxes for infrastructure; authorizing certain cities and the Las Vegas Valley Water District to impose an excise tax on the use of water for water facilities; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1 Title 32 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new chapter to consist of the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 17, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 2 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in sections 3 to 6, inclusive, of this act have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
Sec. 3 "Solid waste" has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 444.490.
Sec. 4 "Wastewater facilities" means:
1. Any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, control of odor, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature, including, without limitation, outfall sewers, pumping, power and other equipment, and their appurtenances;
2. Extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations of any device or system described in subsection 1;
3. Units essential to provide a reliable recycled supply of water, such as standby treatment units and clear well facilities; and
4. Land that is or will be an integral part of the treatment process or is used for the ultimate disposal of residues resulting from such treatment, including, without limitation, the acquisition and improvement of wetlands that are designed and used for the discharge of effluent.
Sec. 5 "Water authority" means a water authority organized as a public agency or an entity created by cooperative agreement pursuant to chapter 277 of NRS whose members at the time of formation included the three largest retail water purveyors in the county and which is responsible for the acquisition, treatment and delivery of water and water resources on a wholesale basis to utilities, governmental agencies and entities and other large customers.
Sec. 6 "Water facilities" means facilities pertaining to a water system for the collection, transportation, treatment, purification and distribution of water, including, without limitation, springs, wells, ponds, lakes, water rights, other raw water sources, basin cribs, dams, spillways, retarding basins, detention basins, reservoirs, towers and other storage facilities, pumping plants, infiltration galleries, filtration plants, purification systems, other water treatment facilities, waterworks plants, pumping stations, gauging stations, ventilating facilities, stream gauges, rain gauges, valves, standpipes, connections, hydrants, conduits, flumes, sluices, canals, channels, ditches, pipes, lines, laterals, service pipes, force mains, submains, siphons, other water transmission and distribution mains, engines, boilers, pumps, meters, apparatus, tools, equipment, fixtures, structures, buildings and other facilities for the acquisition, transportation, treatment, purification and distribution of untreated water or potable water for domestic, commercial and industrial use and irrigation, or any combination thereof.
Sec. 7. 1. The board of county commissioners of any county may by ordinance, but not as in a case of emergency, impose a tax for infrastructure pursuant to this section and section 8 of this act.
2. An ordinance enacted pursuant to this chapter may not become effective before a question concerning the imposition of the tax is approved by a two-thirds majority of the members of the board of county commissioners. Any proposal to increase the rate of the tax or change the previously approved uses for the proceeds of the tax must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the members of the board of county commissioners. The board of county commissioners shall not change a previously approved use for the proceeds of the tax to a use that is not authorized for that county pursuant to section 14 of this act.
3. An ordinance enacted pursuant to this section must specify the date on which the tax must first be imposed or on which an increase in the rate of the tax becomes effective, which must occur on the first day of the first month of the next calendar quarter that is at least 60 days after the date on which a two-thirds majority of the board of county commissioners approved the question.
4. On or before the 10th anniversary of the imposition of a tax pursuant to this chapter in a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which a water authority exists, the board of county commissioners of that county shall review the status of the water or wastewater facilities for which the board of county commissioners imposed all or a portion of the tax to determine the necessity of the continued imposition of the tax.
5. Before the board of county commissioners enacts an ordinance pursuant to this chapter, the board of county commissioners and the water authority shall hold a public hearing regarding the imposition of a tax for infrastructure. Notice of the time and place of the hearing must be:
(a) Published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least once a week for the 2 consecutive weeks immediately preceding the date of the hearing. Such notice must be a display advertisement of not less than 3 inches by 5 inches.
(b) Posted at the building in which the meeting is to be held and at not less than three other separate, prominent places within the county at least 2 weeks before the date of the hearing.
6. Before enacting an ordinance pursuant to this chapter, the board of county commissioners of a county whose population is less than 400,000 or a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which no water authority exists, shall develop a plan for the expenditure of the proceeds of a tax imposed pursuant to this chapter for the purposes set forth in section 14 of this act. The plan may include a regional project for which two or more such counties have entered into an interlocal agreement to expend jointly all or a portion of the proceeds of a tax imposed in each county pursuant to this chapter. Such a plan must include, without limitation, the date on which the plan expires, a description of each proposed project, the method of financing each project and the costs related to each project. The board of county commissioners shall hold at least one public hearing on the plan. Notice of the time and place of the hearing must be provided in the manner set forth in subsection 5. The plan must be approved by the board of county commissioners at a public hearing. On or before the date on which a plan expires, the board of county commissioners shall adopt, in the manner prescribed in this subsection, a new plan for the expenditure of the proceeds of the tax imposed pursuant to this chapter for the purposes set forth in section 14 of this act.
Sec. 8. An ordinance enacted pursuant to this chapter must include provisions in substance as follows:
1. A provision imposing a tax upon retailers at the rate of not more than one-quarter of 1 percent of the gross receipts of any retailer from the sale of all tangible personal property sold at retail, or stored, used or otherwise consumed, in the county.
2. Provisions substantially identical to those contained in chapter 374 of NRS, insofar as applicable.
3. A provision that all amendments to chapter 374 of NRS after the date of enactment of the ordinance, not inconsistent with this chapter, automatically become a part of an ordinance enacted pursuant to this chapter.
4. A provision stating the specific purpose for which the proceeds of the tax must be expended.
5. A provision that the county shall contract before the effective date of the ordinance with the department to perform all functions incident to the administration or operation of the tax in the county.
6. A provision that exempts from the tax or any increase in the tax the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use or other consumption in a county of, tangible personal property used for the performance of a written contract for the construction of an improvement to real property, entered into on or before the effective date of the tax or the increase in the tax, or for which a binding bid was submitted before that date if the bid was afterward accepted, if under the terms of the contract or bid the contract price or bid amount cannot be adjusted to reflect the imposition of the tax or the increase in the tax.
Sec. 9. 1. All fees, taxes, interest and penalties imposed and all amounts of tax required to be paid to the counties pursuant to this chapter must be paid to the department in the form of remittances payable to the department.
2. The department shall deposit the payments with the state treasurer for credit to the sales and use tax account in the state general fund.
3. The state controller, acting upon the collection data furnished by the department, shall monthly:
(a) Transfer from the sales and use tax account to the appropriate account in the state general fund a percentage of all fees, taxes, interest and penalties collected pursuant to this chapter during the preceding month as compensation to the state for the cost of collecting the taxes. The percentage to be transferred pursuant to this paragraph must be the same percentage as the percentage of proceeds transferred pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 3 of NRS 374.785 but the percentage must be applied to the proceeds collected pursuant to this chapter only.
(b) Determine for each county an amount of money equal to any fees, taxes, interest and penalties collected in or for that county pursuant to this chapter during the preceding month, less the amount transferred to the state general fund pursuant to paragraph (a).
(c) Transfer the amount determined for each county to the intergovernmental fund and remit the money:
(1) In each county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which a water authority exists, to the treasurer for the water authority.
(2) In each county whose population is less than 400,000 or each county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which no water authority exists, to the county treasurer.
Sec. 10. The department may redistribute any fee, tax, penalty and interest to:
1. A county whose population is less than 400,000 or a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which no water authority exists; or
2. The water authority in a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which a water authority exists,
that is entitled thereto, but no such redistribution may be made as to amounts originally distributed more than 6 months before the date on which the department obtains knowledge of the improper distribution.
Sec. 11. An ordinance amending the ordinance enacted pursuant to section 7 of this act must include a provision in substance that the county shall amend the contract made pursuant to subsection 5 of section 8 of this act by a contract made between the county and the state acting by and through the department before the effective date of the amendatory taxing ordinance, unless the county determines with the written concurrence of the department that no such amendment of the contract is necessary or desirable.
Sec. 12. 1. In a county whose population is less than 400,000 or a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which no water authority exists, the county treasurer shall deposit the money received from the state controller pursuant to section 9 of this act in the county treasury for credit to a fund to be known as the infrastructure fund. The infrastructure fund must be accounted for as a separate fund and not as a part of any other fund. The money for each project included in the plan adopted pursuant to subsection 6 of section 7 must be accounted for separately in the fund.
2. In a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which a water authority exists, the water authority shall deposit the money received from the state controller pursuant to section 9 of this act in a separate account of the water authority to be known as the infrastructure fund. This fund must be accounted for as a separate fund and not as part of any other fund of the water authority.
Sec. 13. 1. In a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which a water authority exists, the water authority shall enter into an interlocal agreement with a city or town located in the county whose territory is not within the boundaries of the area served by the water authority or with a public entity in the county which provides water or wastewater services and which is not a member of the water authority to provide a distribution from the infrastructure fund of the water authority to the city, town or public entity after the city, town or public entity has submitted to the water authority a detailed plan for acquiring, establishing, constructing, improving or equipping, or any combination thereof, a water or wastewater facility. No such distribution may be made as to proceeds of the tax for infrastructure collected more than 6 months before the date of the request for a distribution.
2. Such a city, town or public entity may request annually from the infrastructure fund of the water authority an amount of the proceeds of the tax for infrastructure received annually by the water authority that is equal to the proportion that the assessed valuation of taxable property within the boundaries of the city or town or the area served by the public entity, except any assessed valuation attributable to the net proceeds of minerals, bears to the total assessed valuation of taxable property within the county, except any assessed valuation attributable to the net proceeds of minerals. If the boundaries of such a city or town overlap with the boundaries of a public entity in such a county which provides water or wastewater services and which is not a member of the water authority, the water authority shall apportion equally between the city or town and the public entity the distribution from the infrastructure fund attributable to the assessed valuation in the area where the boundaries overlap.
3. The water authority shall not unreasonably refuse a request from such a city, town or public entity for a distribution from the infrastructure fund pursuant to the provisions of this section.
Sec. 14. The money in the infrastructure fund, including interest and any other income from the fund:
1. In a county whose population is 400,000 or more, must only be expended by the water authority, distributed by the water authority to its members, distributed by the water authority pursuant to section 13 of this act to a city or town located in the county whose territory is not within the boundaries of the area served by the water authority or to a public entity in such a county which provides water or wastewater services and which is not a member of the water authority or, if no water authority exists in the county, by the board of county commissioners for:
(a) The acquisition, establishment, construction, improvement or equipping of water and wastewater facilities;
(b) The payment of principal and interest on notes, bonds or other securities issued to provide money for the cost of projects described in paragraph (a); or
(c) Any combination of those purposes.
The board of county commissioners may only expend money from the infrastructure fund pursuant to this subsection in the manner set forth in the plan adopted pursuant to subsection 6 of section 7 of this act.
2. In a county whose population is 100,000 or more but less than 400,000, must only be expended by the board of county commissioners in the manner set forth in the plan adopted pursuant to subsection 6 of section 7 of this act for:
(a) The acquisition, establishment, construction or expansion of:
(1) Facilities for the control of floods;
(2) Railroad grade separation projects; or
(3) Facilities relating to public safety;
(b) The payment of principal and interest on notes, bonds or other securities issued to provide money for the cost of projects described in paragraph (a); or
(c) Any combination of those purposes.
3. In a county whose population is less than 100,000, must only be expended by the board of county commissioners in the manner set forth in the plan adopted pursuant to subsection 6 of section 7 of this act for:
(a) The acquisition, establishment, construction, improvement or equipping of:
(1) Water facilities; or
(2) Wastewater facilities;
(b) The acquisition, establishment, construction or expansion of:
(1) Facilities for the control of floods; or
(2) Facilities for the disposal of solid waste;
(c) The payment of principal and interest on notes, bonds or other securities issued to provide money for the cost of projects described in paragraph (a) and (b); or
(d) Any combination of those purposes.
Sec. 15. 1. Money for the payment of the cost of one or more projects for which the board of county commissioners has imposed all or a portion of the tax authorized pursuant to this chapter may be obtained by the issuance of bonds and other securities as provided in subsection 2 or 3, or, subject to any pledges, liens and other contractual limitations made pursuant to this chapter, may be obtained by direct distribution from the infrastructure fund, or may be obtained both by the issuance of such securities and by such direct distribution as determined by the board of county commissioners or, in a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which a water authority exists, by the water authority.
2. The board of county commissioners of a county whose population is less than 400,000 or of a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which no water authority exists may, after the enactment of an ordinance imposing a tax for infrastructure as authorized by section 7 of this act, from time to time issue bonds and other securities, which are general or special obligations of the county and which may be secured as to principal and interest by a pledge authorized by this chapter of the receipts from the taxes imposed by this chapter. The ordinance authorizing the issuance of any bond or other security must describe the purpose for which it was issued.
3. After the enactment of an ordinance imposing a tax for infrastructure by the board of county commissioners of a county whose population is 400,000 or more and in which a water authority exists, the water authority or, if so provided in an interlocal agreement to which the water authority is a party, one or more of the members of the water authority, may from time to time issue bonds and other securities, which are general or special obligations and which may be secured as to principal and interest by a pledge authorized by this chapter of the receipts from the taxes imposed by this chapter.
Sec. 16. 1. Each document providing for the issuance of any bond or security issued pursuant to this chapter which is payable from the receipts of the taxes imposed by this chapter or revenue generated by one or more projects for which the board of county commissioners has imposed all or a portion of the tax authorized pursuant to this chapter, may, in addition to covenants and other provisions authorized in the Local Government Securities Law, contain a covenant or other provision to pledge and create a lien upon the receipts of the tax or the revenue generated by one or more projects for which the board of county commissioners has imposed all or a portion of the tax authorized pursuant to this chapter, or upon the proceeds of any bond or security pending their application to defray the cost of one or more projects for which the board of county commissioners has imposed all or a portion of the tax authorized pursuant to this chapter, or any combination of the tax proceeds, generated revenue or security proceeds, to secure the payment of any bond or security issued pursuant to this chapter.
2. Any money pledged to the payment of bonds or other securities pursuant to subsection 1 may be treated as pledged revenues of the project for the purposes of subsection 3 of NRS 350.020.
Sec. 17. 1. On or before December 31 of each year, a county or water authority that receives money from the state controller pursuant to section 9 of this act shall submit a written report to the director of the legislative counsel bureau for transmission to:
(a) In each even-numbered year, the next regular session of the legislature.
(b) In each odd-numbered year, the interim finance committee.
2. The report must:
(a) Set forth the total amount of money received by the county or water authority from the state controller pursuant to section 9 of this act for the preceding fiscal year;
(b) Describe each distribution of money from the infrastructure fund of the county or water authority in the preceding fiscal year, including, without limitation:
(1) The project for which the money was distributed; and
(2) The status of the project for which the money was distributed;
(c) Describe other revenue, if any, that was allocated to or collected for the financing of a portion of a project for which the tax for infrastructure was imposed; and
(d) Provide projected expenditures for the next 5 fiscal years for projects to be paid, wholly or in part, by proceeds of a tax for infrastructure and the projected revenue to be generated by those projects.
3. If a water authority in a county whose population is 400,000 or more has entered into an interlocal agreement to provide a distribution from the infrastructure fund pursuant to section 13 of this act to a city or town located in the county whose territory is not within the boundaries of the area served by the water authority or to a public entity in the county which provides water or wastewater services and which is not a member of the water authority, the city, town or public entity shall transmit to the water authority on or before December 15 of each year a report that describes:
(a) The total distribution received by the city, town or public entity during the preceding fiscal year from the infrastructure fund pursuant to section 13 of this act;
(b) Each project for which the money was distributed; and
(c) The status of each project for which the money was distributed.
Sec. 18. Chapter 268 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:
1. In a county whose population is 400,000 or more, the governing body of a city that owns a municipal water system may, if requested by a water authority, impose an excise tax on the use of water in an amount sufficient to ensure the payment, wholly or in part, of obligations incurred by the water authority to acquire, establish, construct, improve or equip, or any combination thereof, a water facility. The tax must be imposed by ordinance on customers of the municipal water system that are capable of using or benefiting from the water facility financed, wholly or in part, with the proceeds of the tax.
2. An excise tax imposed pursuant to subsection 1 may be levied at different rates for different classes of customers or to take into account differences in the amount of water used or estimated to be used or the size of the connection.
3. The ordinance imposing the tax must provide:
(a) The rate or rates of the tax;
(b) The procedure for collection of the tax;
(c) The duration of the tax; and
(d) The rate of interest that will be charged on late payments.
4. Late payments of the tax must bear interest at a rate not exceeding 1 percent per month, or fraction thereof. The tax due is a perpetual lien against the property served by the water on whose use the tax is imposed until the tax and any interest that may accrue thereon are paid. Collection of the tax may be enforced in any manner authorized by law for the collection of unpaid water bills. In addition to all other methods available to enforce payment of the tax, the city, by ordinance, may provide that it will be collected in the same manner as delinquent taxes are collected pursuant to NRS 268.043 for sewerage charges.
5. As used in this section:
(a) "Water facility" means a facility pertaining to a water system for the collection, transportation, treatment, purification and distribution of water, including, without limitation, springs, wells, ponds, lakes, water rights, other raw water sources, basin cribs, dams, spillways, retarding basins, detention basins, reservoirs, towers and other storage facilities, pumping plants, infiltration galleries, filtration plants, purification systems, other water treatment facilities, waterworks plants, pumping stations, gauging stations, ventilating facilities, stream gauges, rain gauges, valves, standpipes, connections, hydrants, conduits, flumes, sluices, canals, channels, ditches, pipes, lines, laterals, service pipes, force mains, submains, siphons, other water transmission and distribution mains, engines, boilers, pumps, meters, apparatus, tools, equipment, fixtures, structures, buildings and other facilities for the acquisition, transportation, treatment, purification and distribution of untreated water or potable water for domestic, commercial and industrial use and irrigation, or any combination thereof.
(b) "Water authority" means a water authority organized as a public agency or entity created by cooperative agreement pursuant to chapter 277 of NRS whose members at the time of formation include the three largest retail water purveyors in the county and which is responsible for the acquisition, treatment and delivery of water and water resources on a wholesale basis to utilities, governmental agencies and entities and other large customers.
Sec. 19. Chapter 167, Statutes of Nevada 1947, as last amended by chapter 631, Statutes of Nevada 1993, at page 2643, is hereby amended by adding a new section to be designated as section 28, immediately following section 27, to read as follows:
Sec. 28. 1. At the request of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, to pay all or any part of the cost to acquire, establish, construct, improve or equip, or any combination thereof, one or more water facilities, the board of directors of the district may impose an excise tax on the use of water in an amount sufficient to ensure the payment, wholly or in part, of obligations incurred by the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The tax must be imposed as a rate or charge pursuant to the procedures for adopting a schedule of rates and charges set forth in section 9.2 on customers of the water system of the district that are capable of using or benefiting from the water facilities financed, wholly or in part, with the proceeds of the tax.
2. An excise tax imposed pursuant to subsection 1 may be levied at different rates for different classes of customers or to take into account differences in the amount of water used or estimated to be used or the size of the connection.
3. The schedule imposing the rate or charge must provide:
(a) The amount of the rate or charge;
(b) The procedure for collection of the rate or charge;
(c) The duration of the rate or charge; and
(d) The rate of interest that will be charged on late payments.
4. Late payments of the tax must bear interest at a rate not exceeding 1 percent per month, or fraction thereof. The tax due is a perpetual lien against the property served by the water on whose use the tax is imposed until the tax and any interest that may accrue thereon are paid. Collection of the tax may be enforced in any manner authorized by law for the collection of unpaid water bills. In addition to all other methods available to enforce payment of the tax, the district may provide that it will be collected in the same manner as delinquent taxes are collected pursuant to NRS 268.043 for sewerage charges.
5. As used in this section, "water facility" has the meaning ascribed to "water project" in paragraph (b) of subsection 6 of section 27.
Sec. 20. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.