Nye voters will decide diesel tax in special election

The subject of establishing a new Nye County Diesel Tax is one that has been batted around for over a year, with county officials expected to make a decision on the matter this month. However, following the Nye County Commission’s Jan. 3 meeting, the ball is now back in the public’s court.

In mid-2021, Nye County Public Works, which houses the county’s road department, started the process of gathering input on the possibility of creating a Nye County-specific diesel tax, at a rate of 5 cents per gallon.

At this time, though Nye County receives 9 cents per gallon on gasoline sold at fuel stations throughout the county, not a single cent of the diesel taxes paid at those exact same stations goes to the county. It’s a situation that means the county is missing out on a potential source of revenue that could be used to bolster its road maintenance program and the public works department has been lobbying to see that change.

There are two methods for establishing a diesel tax in Nye County, as detailed by Nevada Revised Statute 373.062. The first requires a vote of the people while the second allows for a two-thirds vote by the Nye County Commission in favor of the tax.

Commissioners had originally opted to send the matter to the ballot, to let residents decide in the 2022 general election but that plan was killed when the road department missed the deadline for ballot question submission. Nye County Public Works Director Tom Bolling then brought the issue back to the board for further consideration and a public hearing was set for the first meeting of 2023.

The idea of imposing a new tax had the all-Republican commission hesitant to move forward. Though a majority of the members agreed that it was a necessary move, the board ultimately chose not to use their power to do so. Instead, after a 4-1 vote against establishing the tax, the board directed Nye County Clerk Mark Kampf to arrange for a special election to settle the question.

Kampf remarked that he would need to do some research to confirm, but based on his previous experience with the 2022 election, he believed a special election could be pulled together within two to four months, at a cost of about $30,000 to $40,000.

As explained by Bolling on Jan.3, a 5-cent diesel tax was originally estimated to bring in around $425,000 per year in revenue but he emphasized that those figures were several years old. Now, the estimate would be quite a bit higher, nearly double, at least $800,000-plus, Bolling said. Though nowhere near the roughly $4 million a year the department actually needs, it’s enough money to scrub seal 20 miles of roadway.

“That’s 20 miles that we wouldn’t be able to do if we don’t have that $800,000,” Bolling remarked, adding, “And there are over 1,000 miles (of paved and chip sealed roads) in Nye County. So we need this money.”

Once a date for the special election regarding the Nye County Diesel Tax has been selected, it will be announced in the Pahrump Valley Times.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com