School bond and tax elections in Nevada

Bond elections
2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 2010 • 2009 • 2008 All years and states
Property tax elections
2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 2010 • 2009 • 2008 All years and states
See also
State comparisons How voting works Approval rates

School bond and tax elections in Nevada are held under three different circumstances:

• To issue new taxes to fund new construction or capital improvements of school facilities.
• If a county school district needs to exceed the fifteen percent debt limit mandated by Nevada revised statutes.
• At the statewide level over state level school funding in regards to the Nevada budget.

Laws affecting school finance

There are two common laws affecting school finances in Nevada. In Nevada, school districts are administrated at the county level as opposed to city level which is the case in many other states.

Capital improvements/new construction

In Nevada, a ballot question is required for capital improvements and new construction of school buildings. There are two different provisions under Nevada law that affect two different classes of school districts. For school districts that have less than 25,000 pupils, the district can ask the voters to approve bonds and taxes for new construction as long the school district does not exceed the limit of 75 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation of taxable property within the county as mandated by law. For school districts that have a population of more than 25,000, the district can ask the voters to approve bonding and taxes for new construction as long the school district does not exceed the limit of 50 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation of taxable property within the county as mandated by law.

Limitation on amount of indebtedness

In Nevada school districts are set at the county-wide level. No school district in Nevada can have more than fifteen percent of indebtness of the total valuation of property in the respective county. Motor vehicles are excluded in the valuation.

Nevada Initiative and Referendum law

Nevada Initiative and Referendum law has provisions that cover county-wide and municipal referendums which affect school bonds.

Required amount of signatures

In Nevada, 10 percent of voters who registered in the last election must petition at minimum to the county school board in order to have a referendum placed during the next election. The fully signed petitions must be issued to the County Clerk at minimum of 130 days before the next regularly scheduled election.

Certification of petition

After a petition is signed, then the county clerk must certify the petition. The process must take 20 days and if the petition is ruled sufficient and if the people who issue the petition do not ask for any further review, then the petition is sent to the County Board of Education.

Petition committee

If a county greater than 40,000 has a ballot question to be considered, two committees of three persons must be formed. One committee is for in favor of voting while the other is against. The committee must be approved by members of the county school board. The committee, is charged with determining the official statements and the wording of the ballot question in which gets submitted to the District Attorney for approval. If approved, the statements are listed in the sample ballot.

Required notice of election

After the school board approves a resolution for a ballot measure involving school bonds, the resolution must be submitted to the county clerk the third Monday in July before a general election in even numbered year. For statewide primary elections, the resolution must be submitted by the second Friday after the first Monday in May in an even numbered year. For elections in odd numbered years or for municipal primary and general elections in odd numbered years, a resolution must be submitted to the County Clerk 60 days before the election.

Conduct of the bond election, limitations, rules

Agency that conducts elections

All elections for school bonds in Nevada are monitored at the county level by the respective County Clerk.

Election dates

In Nevada, school districts can have ballot measures on the primary municipal election in April and general municipal election in June of odd numbered years. During even numbered years elections can be consolidated onto the statewide primary election in June and statewide general election in November.

Needed majority

A simple majority (50 percent plus one) is required to approve any school bond measure in Nevada.

Special Elections

A special election in Nevada for school bond elections can happen under two conditions. The election can be held any time without limitation on the date of a primary city/county election or a statewide primary election if the board of trustees of the school district determines by a unanimous vote that an emergency exists in the district or on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June of an odd-numbered year.

It is up to the School Board to decide that there is conclusive evidence that an emergency exists in order to call for a special election. Otherwise, if its found the school board acted with fraud, abuse or malfeasance, a challenge may be made to the board's action. Anyone who seeks to challenge must issue a challenge to the County Clerk within 15 days of its determination or the decision is final. The Nevada statutes define an emergency as a unexpected occurrence or combination of occurrences that requires immediate action by the board of trustees of the school district to prevent or mitigate a substantial financial loss to the school district or to enable the board of trustees to provide an essential service.

Wording of measures

In Nevada, if any ballot measure is introduced for school bonds, the ballot question must address the following in order to be valid:

• The rate of the proposed additional property tax, stated in dollars and cents per $100 assessed valuation
• The purpose of the proposed additional property tax
• The duration of the proposed additional property tax and an estimate established by the board of trustees of the increase in the amount of property taxes that an owner of a new home with a fair market value of $100,000 will pay per year as a result of the passage of the question. Also, under the Nevada Initiative and Referendum law, the words "Shall the act of" must begin the ballot question and the words "be approved?" must be at the end of the ballot question; all ballot measures must be clear, concise, and to the point to not confuse voters.

List of 2008 Nevada school bond referendums

This is a list of election results from the 2008 general election on November 2, 2008.

Date	District	Bond Amount	Passed/Failed	% Pass
November 2	Clark County-Advisory	Asks the 2009 Nevada Legislature to raise the hotel room tax up to a maximum of 13 percent in Washoe and Clark counties. If approved, tax dollars would be used for teacher salaries, professional development and student achievement	Passed	66.2% to 33.8%
November 2	Churchill County	Authorizes the county school district to issue general obligation bonds for capital improvements and site acquisition that increases property taxes not exceeding of 55 cents per $100 of valued property.	Passed	51.03% to 48.97%
November 2	Douglas County	Authorizes the county school district to issue general obligation bonds for capital improvements and site acquisition that increases property taxes not exceeding of 55 cents per $100 of valued property.	Passed	51.03% to 48.97%
November 2	Humboldt County	Authorizes the county school district to issue general obligation bonds for capital improvements and site acquisition that increases property taxes not exceeding of 13.5 cents per $100 of valued property.	Passed	63.2% to 36.7%
November 2	Lincoln County	Authorizes school district for $5,000,000 in bonding to acquire land for capital improvements. No tax increase will result due to bond retirement.	Passed
November 2	Pershing County	Authorizes the county school district to issue general obligation bonds for capital improvements and site acquisition that increases property taxes not exceeding of 40 cents per $100 of valued property.	Passed	52.6% to 47.3%
November 2	Washoe County	Approve increases in county sales tax rate by a quarter-cent and vehicle registration tax by a half cent with the additional money earmarked to help pay for school reconstruction	Failed	54.6% to 45.3%
November 2	Washoe County-Advisory	Asks the 2009 Nevada Legislature to raise the hotel room tax up to a maximum of 13 percent in Washoe and Clark counties. If approved, tax dollars would be used for teacher salaries, professional development and student achievement	Passed	57.2% to 42.7%
November 2	White Pine County	Authorizes the county school district to issue general obligation bonds for capital improvements and site acquisition that increases property taxes not exceeding of 24.9 cents per $100 of valued property.	Passed	58.4% to 41.5%

Historical Bond Referendums

2006

Date	District	Bond Amount	Passed/Failed	% Pass
November 7	Carson City	Issue $25 million in bonding for capital improvements over a 20 year period	Passed	63.02% to 36.97%
November 7	Statewide	Amend the Nevada Constitution to require the Nevada Legislature to fund the operation of public schools for kindergarten through grade 12 before funding any other part of the state budget for the next biennium?	Passed	54.6% to 45.3%

See also

Suggest a link

• Voting on school bond and tax measures
• Where to find information about local school bond and tax elections
• School bond election
• Approval rates of local school bond and tax elections

External links

• Nevada Department of Education
• Nevada Association of School Boards