Highlights from the Washoe County Board of Commissioners meeting

Top five things to know about the approved Washoe County Budget.

Reno, Nevada. May 17, 2016. The following report highlights several important agenda items from the Washoe County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Videos of County Commission meetings are replayed regularly on WCTV (Charter Ch. 193). You may also watch videos on-demand online. 

The County Commission finalized the Fiscal Year 2016-17 Washoe County budget at Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting.

Approximately 80 percent of the Washoe County budget is funded from two sources: property taxes (49 percent) and what is called the Consolidated Tax, or C-Tax (31 percent). The C-Tax primarily comprises the County’s share of local sales taxes but also includes liquor, cigarette, real property transfer tax and Government Service Tax.

C-Tax revenues are projected to increase eight percent both in the current fiscal year and next fiscal year. However, the increase in property taxes for existing development is near zero in Fiscal Year 2016-17 because the property tax cap (which caps how much a property owner’s taxes can go up) is only 0.2 percent. For a home valued at $200,000, a property owner will pay only $5.12 more in taxes in Fiscal Year 2016-17 than the previous fiscal year. This is the first time since the current method of capping property taxes was passed by the Nevada Legislature that the residential cap has fallen below three percent in Washoe County, which is the maximum residential cap. Since Washoe County relies so much on these property taxes to provide services for the community and those taxes have remained stagnant, the impact on Washoe County’s FY 2016-17 Budget is a reduction of $4 million in property taxes compared to a normal year in which the three percent is in place.

“There is a lot of good news from this budget that is great for the citizens of Washoe County to hear,” Washoe County Commission Chair Kitty Jung (Dist. 3) said. “Thank you to staff for addressing our issues throughout the creation of this budget and remaining flexible. Realignment to position ourselves well for now and the future is the key to this budget.”

The following is a list of highlights from the Washoe County FY 2016-17 Budget:

1. New positions

Due to limited growth in funds available for this year’s budget, Washoe County continues to restructure rather than expand at this time. In spite of flat growth in existing property tax revenues the past year, C-Tax revenues allowed the FY 16-17 recommended budget to include funding for 61 new, full-time positions, all mostly funded through a reallocation of resources.  All positions align with the County Commissions’ Strategic Goals and FY 2017 Initiatives and still keeps the County financially sound. See a list of the new positions.

2. Senior Services

Senior Services has seen an eight percent growth across all program areas. To keep up with the needs of the community, the budget provides more than $2 million in additional funding for a year-round, overflow shelter and programs for the homeless. The budget also includes $150,000 for additional meals for seniors. More than 1,100 seniors receive free, nutritious meals daily from Senior Services. Learn more about various services available to seniors.

3. Parks

More than $13 million in additional funds will go toward projects at Washoe County Regional Parks and Open Space. Funding for the projects is included in the FY17 Capital Improvement Program. Projects planned include North Valleys Regional Park (Phase 5) and significant land acquisitions.

Washoe County manages more than 13,000 acres of park land, including 48 parks, seven of which are regional parks. More than 13,698 people visit Washoe County’s regional parks every day totaling more than 5 million visits per year. See how Washoe County maintains its parks.

4. District Attorney’s Office

The budget also provides funding for a forensic interviewer at the Child Advocacy Center (CAC). The center serves as a centralized facility dedicated to the needs of child victims of crime and their families. The CAC opened in 2014. To date, more than 500 victim interviews have been conducted and successful prosecutions of these difficult cases have increased.

The DA’s office is pursuing accreditation for this center from the National Children’s Alliance.

Learn more about the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office.

5. Public Safety

The budget provides funding for countywide security initiatives to improve security at Washoe County court facilities, the Jan Evans Juvenile Center, County buildings downtown, and the Washoe County Administration Complex. This initiative will add seven deputy sheriffs, one sergeant and 19 county security officers. 

“Although there are still many needs, this budget does a good job of giving Washoe County the resources required to serve citizens in our community,” Washoe County Manager John Slaughter said. “Despite having a flat budget in terms of growth from the previous year, the budget team was able to prioritize and add funding under the direction of the Washoe County Commission’s Strategic Plan.”

Additional facts to know about the FY 16-17 Washoe County Budget

• $634.4 million budget
• General Fund expenditures are only increasing 1% from FY16 budget
• Fund balance is increasing from 8.3% to 12.4% (reserves)
• Washoe County has a nearly balanced General Fund Budget for the first time since FY 2011
• Adding 61.3 positions (Mostly funded by reallocating resources)

See the complete FY 16-17 Washoe County Budget.

County Commissioners also approved the following donations and proclamations at Tuesday’s meeting:

• Monetary donations to Washoe County Regional Animal Services for the humane care and treatment of sick and/or injured, stray, abandoned or at risk animals.
• Donation from Sgt. Randy Hill to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) for the Victim Advocacy Program.
• Donation from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10053 to the WCSO for the Mounted House Unit.
• Donation of a 1980 Heil Tanker Trailer from Circle Transportation Inc. to be used as a training tool at the Regional Public Safety Training Center.
• Accepted military surplus equipment donated to the WCSO to support the Detention Response Team.
• May 15, 2016 is Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 15-21, 2016, is National Police Week.
• May 15-21, 2016, is National Public Works Week.
• June 2016 is Washoe County Flash Flood Awareness Month. See tips to prepare for flash flooding online.
• June 2016 is Lake Tahoe Basin Wildfire Awareness Month.
• Proclamation honoring Anne Pershing.

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