WC-1: The Zombie Tax That Keeps Eating Washoe County Residents Wallets
Some of the ‘team’ who hoodwinked the voters in Washoe County to approve a les tax hike for schools fulling knowing enrollment had already been projected to decline - oh, and remember no sunset on the sales tax we get to pay it forever, exactly what the developers wanted.
Remember 2016? When Washoe County voters were told schools were literally crumbling around our children and the only thing standing between students and structural collapse was a sales tax hike wrapped in a shiny PR campaign called “Save Our Schools.”
What voters weren’t told:
– Enrollment was already projected to decline.
– Developers didn’t want “per door” fees like other cities use to fund infrastructure.
– And the PR machine running WC-1 was also building a very cozy political ecosystem that now shapes the WCSD board and beyond.
But here we are, nearly a decade later, and the district is voting to repurpose campuses today, and shrinking capacity – all while sitting on a permanent, regressive tax voters were emotionally strong-armed into approving.
So, let’s unpack this stew.
WC-1 raised sales tax by 0.54%, placing Washoe County among the highest-taxed metro areas in the U.S. The revenue can only be used for capital projects, not teacher pay.
And yes, the tax is regressive—it hits low-income families the hardest. Even the IRS says so.
“Watchdog Jeff Church” – a former Washoe County School Trustee pointed out on Nextdoor; WCSD enrollment has dropped from 65,000 to about 58,000, even as Reno/Sparks booms. There are roughly 80,000 school-age kids in the county. So where are the other 22,000?
Not at WCSD.
They’re at charter schools, private schools, online academies, or being homeschooled.
Now, the district is preparing to repurpose schools, including historic campuses sitting on prime real estate.
So, if the “building plan” spelled out in WC-1 has already been completed…
Why is the tax still permanent?
Why are taxpayers still subsidizing school construction when schools are shrinking, shuttering, or being put on the chopping block?
Time to sunset WC-1?
Looks like it, but you need to follow the campaign consultants, and, you know, the public relations pros.
The 2016 WC-1 campaign was propelled by a polished PR push led by developer Chip Bowlby (since passed away) and cheered on by EDAWN, whose former executive Michael Kaskesmerki is long gone.
But the real through-line is “that guy” a “Save Our Schools” staffer who went to work for WCSD after the bill passed and then moved back to being a campaign consultant for Beth Smith, Joe Rodriguez, and Alex Woodley.
All three were appointed to the school board before running for their seats.
And all three used “that guy” to run their campaigns.
And all three now vote on the decisions that determine what schools are repurposed.
Anyone else find that odd?”
Because it looks less like “Save Our Schools” and more like Save Our Network.
In 2022 the campaigns ran around chanting that the school board must be “saved from Robert Beadles.”
Robert who?
At this point, it feels like the Beadles Boogeyman is just the fog machine used to distract from the fact that the same consultant keeps building the same political pipeline, feeding the same candidates into the same system that supports the WC-1 tax—even when it no longer makes sense.
The taxpayers, are still footing the bill for a “Save Our Schools” tax while WCSD is busy:
– Repurposing campuses
– Facing shrinking enrollment
– Sitting on capital reserves
If WCSD wants to reshape the school landscape—fine. But don’t keep charging residents one of the highest sales taxes in the nation to build schools you now don’t need.
WC-1 has done its job. It met the building plan. Enrollment is down. The landscape has changed.
It’s time for the tax to sunset, because Washoe County School Trustees, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.