Nevada governor candidate targets corporate homeowners to fund schools

Alexis Hill talks to voting members of the community as she campaigns for the Democratic nomination for governor of Nevada Saturday September 27, 2025. Photo by: Christopher DeVargas

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

If she wins June’s Democratic primary and is then elected governor, Alexis Hill plans to enact property tax reforms to pull Nevada out of the bottom tier when it comes to public school funding.

“I have a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, and they’re going to be going through the public school system, and they deserve teachers who are properly paid,” Hill said. “They deserve to have reasonable ratios in their classes. They deserve to have teacher aides who don’t have to be on Medicaid because they’re not paid enough.”

School funding appears prominently in Hill’s economic plan. While figures and rankings vary depending on what organization is presenting the data, Nevada consistently spends far below the national average in per-pupil spending — an estimated average of $13,368 in state funds per pupil last year.

It was a high-water mark after an infusion of more than $2 billion in 2023. But the national average was $17,467 per student, according to Nevada’s Commission on School Funding.

Hill’s goal is to get Nevada to that middle. “The only way to do that is tax people who are not paying their fair share in the state,” she said.

That means property tax reform, she said.

The Commission on School Funding says bringing Nevada to the national average will require about $2.5 billion more over the next 10 years.

To get there, Hill proposes resetting depreciation when a property is sold, with an exception for low-income seniors. This would ensure properties will be assessed at their actual value, she said.

She would also tax corporate-owned homes like investments, which she said would benefit multiple social services and infrastructure beyond schools.

These reforms would be achieved by executive order directing the Department of Taxation, Nevada Tax Commission and State Board of Equalization to create an emergency regulation.

“I think you need to run on modernizing revenues if you are a responsible leader in the state right now, because of so many of our government functions being in crisis,” said Hill, who is in her second term as a Washoe County commissioner. “As a county commissioner, I’m seeing it literally every day on the ground.”

In addition to school funding, Hill’s pre-K-12 education platform includes universal prekindergarten funded by the end of 2028, a plan for universal childcare by the end of 2030, universal free breakfast and lunch, getting every student into a career-ready pathway, and holding schools accountable for giving special needs students the support they need.

She’d also like to create a fellowship program for essential services, including teaching, that provides tuition reimbursement or student loan forgiveness in exchange for a 10-year commitment to working in Nevada. And she’d like to maintain a strong relationship with the Clark County School District.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is also running to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee to face incumbent Gov. Joe Lombardo, has a wide education and child wellness plan that prioritizes free school meals, youth online safety and job training for young people who do not attend college.

Ford also said he supports or plans to focus on expanded career and technical education, elementary school literacy, expanded early childhood education, better pay for school support staff, and a statewide appointed parents council, among other initiatives.

Hill plans to also use executive orders to get state education officials involved in her major proposals: one to direct the State Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction to create job-readiness programs in all schools by the beginning of the 2028-2029 school year, and another to direct the state superintendent to create a plan for funding universal childcare.

“The only way we can keep democracy in this country is if we have incredible education invested for all Nevadans and all parts of the state need to have the same access to education — because if you do not have a well-informed electorate, if you do not have an educated populace, you are in trouble,” Hill said. “And you’re not just in trouble with your economy, which we’re seeing in Nevada, but you’re in trouble with the fundamentals of what make up your democracy — socially, culturally, well-informed community members who understand the history of this country, who understand how important it is for them to be engaged. We owe it to ourselves to invest in this, and it is unacceptable what we’ve allowed to have happen in the state.”