1. The board of fire commissioners shall prepare an annual budget in accordance with the provisions of NRS 354.470 to 354.626, inclusive, for each district organized in accordance with NRS 474.460 or 474.533.

2. Each budget must be based on estimates of the amount of money which will be needed to defray the expenses of the district and to meet unforeseen emergencies and the amount of a fire protection tax sufficient, together with the revenue which will result from application of the rate to the net proceeds of minerals, to raise such sums.

3. At the time of making the levy of county taxes for the year, the board of county commissioners shall levy the tax provided by subsection 2, upon all property, both real and personal, subject to taxation within the boundaries of the district. Any tax levied on interstate or intercounty telephone lines, power lines and other public utility lines as authorized in this section must be based upon valuations established by the Nevada Tax Commission pursuant to the provisions of NRS 361.315 to 361.330, inclusive.

4. The amount of tax to be collected for the purposes of this section must not exceed, in any 1 year, 1 percent of the value of the property described in subsection 3 and any net proceeds of minerals derived from within the boundaries of the district.

5. If levied, the tax must be entered upon the assessment roll and collected in the same manner as state and county taxes. Taxes may be paid in four approximately equal installments at the times specified in NRS 361.483, and the same penalties as specified in NRS 361.483 must be added for failure to pay the taxes.

6. For the purposes of NRS 474.460 to 474.540, inclusive, the treasurer of the district shall keep two separate funds for each district, one to be known as the district fire protection operating fund and one to be known as the district emergency fund. The money collected to defray the expenses of any district organized pursuant to NRS 474.460 or 474.533 must be deposited in the district fire protection operating fund, and the money collected to meet unforeseen emergencies must be deposited in the district emergency fund. The district emergency fund must be used solely for emergencies and must not be used for regular operating expenses. The money deposited in the district emergency fund must not exceed the sum of $1,000,000 for a district organized pursuant to NRS 474.460 or $1,500,000 for a district organized pursuant to NRS 474.533. Any interest earned on the money in the district emergency fund that causes the balance in that fund to exceed $1,000,000 or $1,500,000, as applicable, must be credited to the district fire protection operating fund.

7. For the purposes of subsection 6, an emergency includes, without limitation, any event that:

(a) Causes widespread or severe damage to property or injury to or the death of persons within the district;

(b) As determined by the district fire chief, requires immediate action to protect the health, safety and welfare of persons who reside within the district; and

(c) Requires the district to provide money to obtain a matching grant from an agency of the Federal Government to repair damage caused by a natural disaster that occurred within the district.

(Added to NRS by 1963, 325; A 1967, 965; 1975, 1637; 1989, 49; 1999, 203; 2001, 362; 2005, 526; 2007, 1308; 2011, 2731; 2013, 3140; 2015, 182)