Meeting of Northern Nevada county managers highlights growth, housing and industry

County managers representing Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Storey, Churchill and Mineral counties gathered Wednesday in Carson City as a part of Northern Nevada Development Authority's annual “State of the Counties” meeting.

The county representatives discussed the challenges and prospects their counties are facing in regards to industry, tourism, housing and more.

Held in the Casino Fandango Ballroom as part of the "Business Edge" lecture series, the meeting provided information, issues and trends of interest to the northern Nevada business community.

Carson City Manager Nancy Paulson began the series and spoke on topics such as redevelopment, street projects, housing, the growth of the city, water usage, the general fund and more.

During her presentation, Paulson discussed the general fund assessed valuation and property tax revenues, which have been steadily increasing. The assessed valuation increased from $17 million to $24 million between Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 and 2020.

There has been strong growth as well in consolidated tax history; in 2010, the amount was approximately $17.5 million, while in 2020, it has nearly doubled with an amount of approximately $33.2 million.

Carson City’s taxable sales have also steadily grown, from about $700 million in FY 2010 to over $1.2 billion in FY 2019. This is great news for the Carson City general fund, which has doubled between FY 2015 ($7.6 million) to FY 2019 ($14.6 million).

She also discussed Carson City’s increase in housing; in 2018, residential building permits totaling of 567 units were issued, and in 2019, 279 unit permits were issued. In 2018, the majority were for multi-family complexes of three or more attached units, and in 2019, the majority was issued for single family detached houses.

— Douglas County’s Patrick Cates discussed the Tahoe events center, which was first proposed in 2010, the update of their master plan which was put in place in the 90s and was last updated in 2011, and a proposed parkway construction, among other topics.

The events center has been a great topic of interest for the last decade, and during the 2019 legislative session, Senate Bill (SB) 461 was approved.

SB461 approved a $5 per night surcharge on rooms in Tahoe Township, authorized the Tahoe Douglas Visitor’s Authority (TDVA) to issue bonds, and decreased county contribution to approximately $25 million.

“The ‘cost of doing nothing’ study estimates economic benefits of the events center versus the status quo,” said Cates.

The Douglas County Commission voted to reaffirm their support for the event center during 2019, along with the Redevelopment Area no. 2 for Stateline.

In addition, Douglas County has began to undertake the Master Plan Update, which hasn’t been updated since 2011. They are interested in revitalizing agriculture and conservation efforts, while simplifying the language of the Master Plan to bring in additional clarity.

The Muller Parkway is potentially the largest development at hand currently in Douglas County, which will be similar to Veterans Parkway in Reno, giving local traffic the option to bypass 395. As a part of the agreement, the county must construct two lanes of Muller within 6 years, at an estimated $12.4 million estimated cost which would be shared with Park Ranch, the new housing development capped at 2,500 homes.

The long term goal for the parkway is a four lane parkway, which would be an estimated cost of $40-44 million.

“The Commission will be asked to choose a design and funding strategies in early 2020,” said Cates.

— Lyon County Manager Jeff Page discussed intergovernmental funding, their Master Plan update, their Natural Resources and Open Space Plan, the lack of rental housing throughout the county, and more.

Revenues for FY20 in Lyon County are overwhelming coming from intergovernmental spending, which allots for 51 percent of the budget; pretty taxes account for 31 percent while the rest is spread between other revenue streams such as licenses and permits, fines, and more.

Public safety is the number one expenditure, which takes 42 percent of the budget at just over $15 million per year. “General government” accounts of 30 percent of the budget, judicial is at 22 percent, while culture and recreation (3 percent), Welfare (2 percent) and “health” (1 percent) take up the rest.

Lyon County was able to generate several million dollars through gas taxes and new construction taxes, which allowed to $2.3 million and $1.4 million, which has helped maintain 533 miles of road, including 10 bridges and four traffic signals.

Lyon County will also be updating its Master Plan, and are in the process of the update currently. A Natural Resources and Open Space Plan is underway, as well as a collaborated traffic study with NDOT and an Economic Development and Rail Study.

Churchill County’s Jim Barbee discussed building a new courthouse, expanding their Navy range, and more.

This is the first “State of the Counties” Mineral County has attended, and Manager Sean Rowe took the opportunity to introduce the public to their county. He discussed the county’s history in mining, hosting army facilities and for a short time, Mark Twain. They also discussed their contemporary geothermal and alternative energy production, light manufacturing, gaming, and more.

Storey County’s Austin Osborne discussed Tesla, general finances, their new zip code (which is 89437), tourism, and more.

NNDA’s next event will be the “Economic Impact of Professional Soccer in Northern Nevada” hosted on Feb. 26 at Casino Fandango.

For a full list of all upcoming NNDA events, or to learn more about the Development Authority, follow this link: https://nnda.org/events/