From road maintenance to hospitals and fire departments, taxes fund many of the important services that any county provides to its residents. With revenue for Humboldt County primarily based on Consolidated Tax (CTX), it is an especially important component to maintaining a healthy variety of services to the community.
Humboldt County Comptroller, Gina Rackley, presented an update regarding revenues and expenditures to the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 3. Board Chairman, Jim French, was absent from the meeting and Vicechair, Ken Tipton, led the meeting.
According to Rackley’s financial report, Humboldt County is down seven percent from July of the 2021 fiscal year for CTX revenue. There is also an eight week delay between distribution of funds and the close of the last month of the fiscal year.
Rackley said in an email that “The reason that CTX is so important to Humboldt County, and why we watch it so closely is because it is the single largest revenue source to Humboldt County,” as it accounts for 58 percent of the revenue received on an average basis.
Humboldt County did receive just over a million dollars for CTX, according to the financial report, with funds going to the County’s General Fund, the Road Fund, Paradise Fire, Pueblo Fire (Denio), Orovada Fire, Winnemucca Rural Fire, McDermitt Fire, Humboldt Fire, Orovada Community Services District, Golconda Fire, and Humboldt General Hospital.
CTX comes from Cigarette Tax, Liquor Tax, Government Services Tax, Real Property Transfer Tax, Basic City County Relief Tax and Supplemental City County Relief Tax.
Liquor, Cigarette and Property Tax come from just that. Government Services Tax is collected through the registration of vehicles and Basic City County Relief Tax and Supplemental City County Relief Tax are based on a more complex system that uses percentages and fixed numbers to distribute funds, according to Rackley.
Mining, utilities, vehicle parts and dealers, furniture, food and beverage, and gas are just a few of the “key” categories that Rackley examines closely in order to evaluate the local economy.
Mining tax was up 67.5 percent and Non-store Retailers, like Amazon, were up 16.3 percent, but the other key categories were down.
Keeping an eye on the CTX is “a good economic indicator tool as to how businesses are doing in our County on a year over year basis,” explained Rackley.
According to Rackley, Humboldt County is among the seven other counties that reported decreases as well.
“We’re seeing the I-80 corridor start to go into the negative,” said Rackley.
In other County Commission news:
• The Commissioners approved a request that allows for additional pages in the Humboldt County Recorder’’s Office to be preserved by Kofile Technologies. Despite an increase in cost for services, there is no fiscal impact to the County.
• Expenditures from Sept. 19 through Oct. 3 were approved unanimously.
• The Board voted in approval of waiving the attrition policy for a Technology Services Technician.
• The Commissioners voted to accept a grant received by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in the amount of 143, 622 dollars from the State of Nevada Dept. of Health and Human Services Division of Public & Behavioral Health.
According to Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Detention Division Captain, Chris Lininger, the grant is specifically for jails and will go towards fulfilling nurses’ salaries and the purchase of Covid testing supplies.
• Public Works Department Director, Don Kalkoske, presented an update regarding current road maintenance and projects, which include an extensive safety project within the department to bring the building and equipment up to OSHA requirements.
• The Commissioners approved motions for the Public Works Dept. to purchase frac tanks to hold water for road maintenance projects and to purchase a used belly dump trailer.
• A motion to allow the Public Works Dept. to hold an auction for multiple County-owned items and vehicles deemed as surplus was approved by the Board.
• Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Allen was present to convene a Liquor Board meeting, at which a special event license for Trade or Pay Party at the Orovada Community Center on Nov. 19 was approved.
• The Board approved the Law Enforcement Chapter of the Public Land Use Plan to be included in the Humboldt County Master Plan.