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9. L e v y and Collection o f T a x es: So far as possible, principal and interest on the bonds must be paid from revenues. H ow ever, it is the duty o f the Board o f D irectors annually to provide for the levy o f taxes, if necessary to supplem ent other incom e and revenues, to assure prom pt paym ent o f principal and interest as they fall due (Sec. 11). E xpense Estim ates: F or m any years records o f water withdrawals from the Las V egas V alley ground water basin have been kept b y the State Engineer o f N evada and the present and future water consum ption in the Las V egas V alley W ater D istrict has been the subject of studies by Greeley & H ansen in 1949, Ralph W . O ’N eill & James M . M ontgom ery in 1951-52, James M. M ontgom ery in 1954, and Black & V eatch in 1954. T h e per capita consum ption o f record, together with the anticipated population increases, form the basis for estim ating future water requirements and costs. W A T E R C O N S U M P T IO N — L A S V E G A S L A N D A N D W A T E R C O M P A N Y C IT Y O F L A S V E G A S Consumption in Million Gallons Daily Yearly Totals Average Maximum Month Minimum Month M . G . Acre Feet 1940........................ .................. 3.33 5.75 0.99 1,217 3,736 1941........................ .................. 4.07 5.85 1.91 1,485 4,556 1942....................... .................. 3.99 6.44 2.64 1,458 4,475 1943............................................ 5.18 7.82 2.86 1,892 5,805 1944........................ .................. 5.90 9.50 3.09 2,158 6,622 1945........................ .................. 6.28 9.65 3.78 2,292 7,033 1946........................ .................. 7.62 13.78 4.18 2,781 8,533 1947........................................... 8.74 13.90 4.47 3,189 9,786 1948........................ .................. 9.31 14.40 5.27 3,408 10,460 1949........................ .................. 9.70 15.03 4.73 3,541 10,868 1950........................................... 9.51 13.48 5.86 3,472 10,655 1951........................ .................. 9.91 16.22 5.53 3,618 11,103 1952........................................... 10.44 * * 3,820 11,722 * Not reported. T h e water consum ption for 1953 is estim ated at 13.36 million: gallons 'daily, a total of about 4,860 m illion gallons or 14,969 acre feet. T he peak day was June 30, 1953 w ith 19.75 m.g., and the all-tim e peak m onth o f June 1953 averaged 16.80 m .g.d. T h e average daily consum ption, based on an average 1953 population of 36,100, was 370 gallons per capita. T h e future service population has been estim ated b y Greeley & H ansen and James M. M on tgom ery b y bringing the Las V egas City census of 1950 up to date with the use of building permits, mail carrier stops, water custom er, electrical services, and registered voter records, p rojectin g a grow th curve, and m odifying the curve by com parisons with grow th patterns o f nine similar cities (P h oen ix and T ucson, A rizon a ; A lbuquerque, N ew M e x ico; Beaum ont, T ex a s; Bakersfield, Fresno, San Bernardino and Stockton, C alifornia; and O gden, U tah) in the south and southwest. W h ile no direct com parison can be made betw een Las V ega s and any other city in the U nited States, cities with w idely varying basic industries tend to exhibit similar grow in g charac­teristics. M ost com m unities in the arid sections of the west, have grow n phenom enally since the developm ent 6f air conditioning. It is felt that Las V egas has the elements necessary for continued grow th including climate, industry, water, pow er, m arketing area and recreation. 13 B uilding perm its for the construction o f fam ily dw elling units, as issued by the City Building Inspector, are a quite accurate indication o f the population increase. T h e increases b elow are based on an estim ated average o f 3.2 persons per fam ily dw elling unit. Year Permits for Family Estimated Dwelling Units Population Increase 1950..........— ........................ ........................ .................... 855 2,740 1951......-------------- ...— ..— ............. ................................... 816 2,600 1 9 5 2 - ..:.............................. .................................. — ............. :...... 1,110 3,550 1 9 5 3 - - . ........... .......................... ............................ ........................ 2,650 8,480 17,370 1950 Census__u,.,.................... .............................. .iji.__............ 24,624 41,994 L e s s : A djustm ent for date o f 1950 Census (A p ril 1)...... 684 Estim ated Population January 1, 1954............................ 41,310 T h e actual population w ould, o f course, be som ew hat less than 41,000 because all o f the dw elling units authorized in 1953 w ould not be com pleted and occupied b y January, 1954. H o w ­ever, water charges begin when the service is installed and the flat rate is calculated. This is done at the start o f construction. Population estimates have recently been made b y others as fo llo w s : 1. Las V egas school enrollm ent February 15, 1953, was 8,485. In ratio to 1950’s popula­tion and school enrollm ent, Las V egas population as of that date w ould be 37,422. 2. Las V egas garbage pick-up accounts in February 1953 were 7,221, w hich in ratio w ould place the population at 38,632. 3. T h e Southern N evada P ow er Com pany metered accounts w ere 15,763 in February 1953 w hich in ratio w ould place the population at 31,842. T h e average o f these three population estimates w ould be 35,965 as o f February 1953. A t least 6.000 have been added to the population since that date. It is felt, therefore, that an estim ate based on building permits w ould be reasonably accurate. In estim ating future populations, Greeley & H ansen plotted the grow th curve o f the Las V egas urban area to the 1948 estimate of 31,300. Continuing the grow th curves o f the other cities com pared from the Las V egas 1948 figure, it was found that the probable maxim um population in 1970 w ould be 70,000, and the minimum 51,000. Betw een the dates o f the Greeley & H ansen and the M ontgom ery reports, the grow th o f Las V egas has been particularly rapid. Several annexations have increased the area from 14 square miles in 1948 to about 18 square miles in 1953. T h e M ontgom ery report continued the city o f Las V egas 1950-53 trend to 1955, reaching 46,000 in that year, and then, for the sake o f conservatism assumed that the 1940-1950 rate o f grow th w ould prevail thereafter. T his m ethod produces a projected population o f 55,000 in 1960 and 71.000 in 1970, after w hich the increase is estim ated to be 10,000 per decade. In spite o f the possibility of extrem ely rapid future grow th it was felt that the w ater utility incom e and bond retirement calculations should be based on conservative figures. T h e final calculation o f the service population, Las V egas plus 10% , show s a population o f 50,600 in 1955, 60,500 in 1960, and 78,100 in 1970, with an increase o f 11,000 per decade thereafter. 14