The renewal of a $1,600 residential construction tax for another four years to benefit the Nye County School District was passed by county commissioners Wednesday as a routine item without discussion.

The fees -- which are in addition to impact fees benefitting Nye County of about the same amount per rooftop -- have brought in $5.05 million to the Nye County School District from the enactment of the ordinance Aug. 17, 2004 through April 30.

Ray Ritchie, Nye County School District chief financial administrative officer, said $1 million was used for the new Floyd Elementary School opening this fall, and most of the rest has been used to buy modular buildings.

The funds can be used only for construction, remodeling or renovation, he said.

The Nevada Tax Commission has to approve the renewal of the agreement Sept. 8.

Rick Walker, a local builder, said commissioners should have held a public hearing on the four-year renewal of the fees, though he didn't rush up to the microphone to speak before the vote Tuesday.

Walker said the capital improvements committee, of which he is a member, will probably issue a recommendation to repeal the fees.

The impact fees and residential construction fees are affecting an already anemic building industry, he said. "It's nailing the coffin on an already bad economy," Walker said.

Nye County needs to repeal the fees which are making Pahrump non-competitive in building costs, he said.

School enrollment was almost flat at the start of the 2007-08 year last September. Nye County planners estimate the population of Pahrump actually decreased slightly the first two quarters of this year.

Ritchie's request to commissioners, however, states the growth in southern Nye County reached unprecedented levels over the past four years the fee was levied, in which enrollment grew from 4,540 students to 5,208.

The residential construction tax allowed the school district to buy 66 mobile classrooms, he said.

The alternative to the tax would be severe overcrowing, which would require double sessions and yearround schools which were the rule before the 2002 school year, which would disrupt families and impact education, Ritchie wrote.

Nevada law allows the imposition of the fees on new construction in counties of under 50,000 population, a threshold Nye County is nearing.

Ritchie estimates one new student costs $17,347 in facilities.

"We realize construction is down right now, but when the economy picks up and construction starts again in the Pahrump Valley we will experience classroom shortages with student population increases outpacing our ability to bond for new construction," the school district proposal states.

The district is studying educational issues, like the need for alternative school sites and vocational-technology centers.

School district officials outlined $100.7 million in possible capital improvements needed in the next few years:

* $50 million to refurbish and update Pahrump Valley High School;

* $18 million apiece to replace Manse Elementary and Mount Charleston Elementary;

* $2 million apiece for additions to J.G. Johnson Elementary, Hafen Elementary and Rosemary Clarke Middle School;

* $4 million for a new support services building.