Other SID Information
SID no. 158 Las Vegas Boulevard - St. Rose Parkway to Pyle Avenue

About Special Improvement Districts
Residential/commercial developments are sometimes constructed without the benefit of adequate curbs, gutters, sidewalks, or other standard improvements. Faced with rising land and construction costs, many builders choose to keep local developments "affordable" by eliminating these features. Others may intentionally omit them in an effort to establish a "rural" environment in an urban setting. In older neighborhoods, these items may have been excluded or minimized due to a lack of stringent development guidelines. Because of these conditions, property owners or the local governing body may opt to build additional improvements by establishing a Special Improvement District.

What is a Special Improvement District (SID)?
Through the "Consolidated Local Improvement Law" (Chapter 271 of the Nevada Revised Statutes), counties, cities, and towns are allowed to form Special Improvement Districts (SID) for the purpose of acquiring, improving, equipping, operating, and maintaining specific projects within the municipality. Projects include improvements such as street pavement, curb and gutter, sidewalk, streetlights, driveways, sewer and water facilities, etc.

Why Form a SID?
Local improvement districts are generally formed to provide a source of funding for the construction and/or maintenance of eligible improvements within the district. The law allows the sale of bonds to finance the cost of these new facilities, with property owners (within the district) being assessed for their benefited share of the improvements.

Special Improvement Districts are a tool that can be used by property owners to finance the costs of public improvements over a 10-year - up to a 30-year period at a low rate of interest. Generally, improvement districts are initiated in conjunction with Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) projects and may be requested by either property owners or the Board of County Commissioners.

SIDs are formed using one of the three methods noted below:

Provisional Order Method - is initiated by a governing body and requires that a public protest hearing be conducted. Note: If the County provides more than 50% of the funding for a particular district, it can ultimately be created over the protest of the property owners.

Petition Method - is initiated by property owners and requires that a public protest hearing be conducted. Note: If the County does not provide 50% of the funding for this type of SID, a majority vote of the represented frontage is needed to form the district.

Developer Method - is initiated between a developer and government entity and requires the signing of a contract. A protest public hearing is not required as part of this process.

There are 10 steps in the assessment process, from the initial proposal to create a district to the final selling of bonds. This entire procedure can take up to two years to complete. Before any hearing, Public Works staff will engage in various community outreach meetings to inform impacted property owners of the proposed project and the overall SID process.