The Nye County School Board approved a letter requesting the Nye County Board of Commissioners to continue levying a residential construction tax to help alleviate the current budget shortfall the district is facing.

Recently the school board was forced to cut $2.6 million from its budget to accommodate fiscal shortfalls on a state level that trickled down to education funding.

The residential construction tax was first approved by the commissioners in August 2004 under a statute that allows local governments to levy taxes on new construction to help offset the costs of new schools.

Under the statute, up to $1,600 in taxes can be collected by the county on new homes and apartment buildings, by unit.

The tax money would be specifically allocated for the construction, remodeling and additions to district school buildings. This includes major equipment purchases (such as kitchens and science and technology labs) or buying land for schools.

Although the housing market is in a slump, in a letter to the Department of Taxation the school district explained it was attempting to prepare for when things pick up again.

"When this explosion of building occurs, we will suffer severe classroom shortages," the letter explains. "The student population increase in Pahrump is outpacing our ability to bond for new construction of the schools."

A letter from the school district to the county commissioners cites a population growth of 4,540 students for the 2004-05 school year to 5,208 students today, for an estimated 4 percent annual increase.

The increase in the number of students means an increase of wear and tear on existing school facilities and higher costs in everything from fuel, to sewer and water.

With the help of the residential tax, the district has been able to fund 66 mobile classrooms that could be located at any school site where they were needed.

"Without the residential construction tax money, we would have been severely overcrowded, we may have had to go to double sessions and yearround schools, disrupting families and impacting education," the letter to the commissioners states.

"We believe, and that the Commission does as well, that those who benefit from growth, developers, realtors and builders, should help address those challenges that are created by population growth," the letter states.