EDITORIAL: A gold star for Nevada’s property tax system

Nevada has one of the lowest property tax rates in the country. That’s an achievement to celebrate, not a problem to fix.

WalletHub recently released a report on property tax rates throughout the country. It found that Nevada’s effective tax rate on property was 0.47 percent. It put the median home price in Nevada at around $435,000. At that 0.47 percent rate, the average annual taxes on a home that price would be just more than $2,000. The only states with lower rates are Hawaii at 0.27 percent and Alabama at 0.38 percent.

Most of Nevada’s neighbors also rank quite well. Arizona comes in fourth. Idaho is seventh, and Utah was ranked 10th. Thanks to California’s Proposition 13 — passed in 1978 to rein in the worst instincts of state politicians — even the Golden State ranks 17th in the country. Oregon ranks 27th.

No one likes paying property taxes, but Nevada’s low rates help families and those on fixed incomes afford their homes. Imagine living in New Jersey. It ranks last with an effective tax rate of 2.11 percent. The median home value in that state is around $455,000. That’s slightly higher than Nevada. But a New Jersey resident with a home of that value can expect to pay more than $9,500 annually in property taxes.

Yes, you read that correctly. A New Jersey resident who owns a median-priced home has to pay the government nearly $10,000 a year. That sounds more like renting from the government than homeownership.

Nevada’s property tax system, however, is subject to regular attacks in the Legislature. Last year, Assembly Democrats overwhelmingly voted for a constitutional amendment to increase property taxes on resold homes. The proposal died after not receiving a vote in the Senate. In 2021, the Nevada Association of Counties proposed a different bill to boost future property tax revenues. It didn’t receive a vote.

It’s true that Nevada’s property tax system is complicated. Determining how much someone pays involves terms such as “taxable value,” “depreciation” and “tax caps.” But the primary motivation of those wishing to change the system doesn’t appear to be simplicity. They clearly want more property tax dollars for governments to spend. Rather than raising taxes, they should promote the construction of more housing, which would drive additional property tax collections.

You don’t have to be able to articulate all the details to realize that Nevada’s property tax system works well. Property owners know there is a limit on how much their taxes can increase. The property tax caps provide government entities a stable source of funding. They even limit how much property tax collections will fall if housing prices drop.

Nevada is on top of a good list. Lawmakers should keep it that way.