Washoe schools tax question remains on ballot

illegally and stacked in favor of those who support the tax increase.

Freeman disagreed. He concluded after a two-hour hearing that county officials were in “substantial compliance” with the law. He said even if they weren’t, he has no authority to prevent voters from deciding the matter at the polls.

“I wanted to give Mr. Church his day in court to make his arguments, but from a legal perspective, they all fail,” Freeman said.

Friday’s hearing came a day before early voting begins across the state. Absentee voting by mail already is underway.

The measure would permanently raise the Washoe sales tax from 7.725 percent to 8.265 percent.

School officials estimated it would create $780 million in bonding authority over the next 10 years to help combat a $1.1 billion backlog in capital needs.

Washoe County voters have rejected every school bond measure presented to them over the past 12 years.

But there’s no organized opposition this time around, and a political action committee, the Coalition to Save Our Schools, has raised $1 million for an advertising campaign backing the increase.