Ex-governors oppose 'Axe the Tax' initiative

Two former Nevada governors said Wednesday the "Axe the Tax" petition calling for repeal of the 2003 tax package should not go to a vote of the people.

Republican Bob List and Democrat Bob Miller said the proposed ballot question "sets a dangerous precedent and asks voters to make a decision based on incomplete facts."

"Regardless of party affiliation and opinions, we are united in our discomfort with a process we believe has been manipulated at the expense of Nevada voters."

In a statement, the governors said the petition doesn't explain the effect the vote could have on the state. The proposed ballot question would repeal more than 200 sections of the tax bill, they said, and that most people who signed the initiative don't know what is in all of those sections or the effect of repealing them.

They say repealing the taxes would immediately stop collection of those taxes, hurting state-funded programs including social services, education and the operation of state government. The extent of that effect, they argued, isn't known.

Further, they say, most voters don't understand if they vote on the issue - whether for or against - the vote itself will lock in the tax laws of Nevada so that those taxes can never be raised or lowered without a vote of the people.

"The Legislature cannot function effectively if it is required to ask voters to weigh in on every decision through ballot questions," they said.

The two describe the Axe the Tax petition as "a prime example of good, common- sense-Nevada political values carried to the extreme." They said the decision on what taxes are necessary should be left to elected members of the Legislature and the governor and should not be put to a vote in November.

Secretary of State Dean Heller has ordered all the petition signatures be checked to verify if the tax referendum received the 51,337 valid signers needed to qualify for the ballot. The Nevada Taxpayers Association has filed a lawsuit in Carson District Court saying the petition has several defects and should be disqualified from the ballot.

Reach Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.