finance

CARSON CITY – The state Board of Finance was told today that Nevada now expects to receive between 30 and 33 cents on the dollar in recovery from a $50 million investment loss when Lehman Brothers unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy in September 2008.

Nevada state Treasurer Kate Marshall said the state initially expected only 10 to 11 cents on the dollar when the firm filed for bankruptcy protection during the height of the nation’s financial crisis.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee today approved a request from the Department of Taxation for $260,000 to hire a team of auditors to track cigarette sales to protect a $40 million a year payment to Nevada from the nation’s major tobacco companies.

After three nationwide searches Douglas County Manager Steve Mokrohisky found the person he wanted for the top finance job right in his own back yard. The pick was Christine Vuletich, the City of South Lake Tahoe's director of finance.
Vuletich has resigned to take the position in Douglas County offered to her this week by Mokrohisky, where she will serve as the assistant county manager/chief financial officer.

The City of South Lake Tahoe's Director of Finance, Christine Vuletich, has resigned to take a position in Douglas County, where she will serve as the assistant county manager/chief financial officer. Her last day is Feb. 17.
Vuletich, who was hired in October 2004 as the director of finance, has been responsible for the overall operation and oversight of the city's finance department, and has served as primary financial advisor to the city council and city manager.

CARSON CITY – When state Sen. Greg Brower asked the Attorney General’s office earlier this month about the $6 million in outside legal costs incurred so far in defending the state in a freeway construction dispute, he said his motives were purely fiscal in nature.

Greater Nevada Credit Union (GNCU) recently named Linda Barker as Vice President of Information Technology. Barker is responsible for leading the credit union’s technology initiatives and supporting its internal team, business partners, and members.

CARSON CITY – Nevada voters can now be better informed than ever before with the Wednesday launch of Aurora, a user-friendly, searchable database for all campaign and public officer finance disclosures, Secretary of State Ross Miller said today.

Aurora, which can be accessed directly through the Secretary of State’s homepage, will provide a new level of insight into who is funding campaigns, and how those funds are being spent, he said.

CARSON CITY – A state panel today supported a request from the Department of Taxation for $260,000 to hire a team of auditors to track cigarette sales to protect a $40 million a year payment to Nevada from the nation’s major tobacco companies.

CARSON CITY – Starting with the annual campaign contribution and expense reports due Jan. 17, elected officials and candidates must now file their information electronically with the Secretary of State’s office.

State lawmakers say they have not heard of any major concerns with the new requirements from their colleagues.

The state's Interim Finance Committee questioned Corrections Director Greg Cox over contradictory plans for running the license plate shop at the Nevada State Prison once the facility closes down. The original plan was for the shop to stay where it is and be run by minimum security inmates. But Cox had also been looking at moving the plant to either the Northern Nevada Correctional Center on the south side of Carson City, or to High Desert State Prison near Las Vegas. He said they didn't currently have the money to make that move.

The IFC also got the final $521,904 bill for the special election to fill Nevada's Second Congressional District seat after Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Dean Heller to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Ensign.

The IFC also approved funding for 20 of the 30 new positions for the Department of Motor Vehicles approved by the 2011 Legislature. The new positions are supposed to help cut the wait time at DMV offices, which have increased since 85 positions were eliminated due to budget cuts.

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A coalition of organizations is urging the Attorney General's office to reject a multi-state settlement with the banking industry over allegations of widespread falsifying loan documents and other wrongdoing in the wake of the mortgage foreclosure crisis. New York and California have already signaled that they will not sign onto the agreement, and the Attorneys General of Nevada and California recently announced that they will work together to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by the banks.

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The Carson City Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with the Nevada Small Business Development Center at UNR to work together to operate the city's Business Resource Innovation Center, under the leadership of its new director Michael Salogga.

The Carson City Board of Supervisor will consider settlements in two lawsuits alleging misconduct by city employees at the board's next meeting on Dec. 15.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors is seeking applications from persons interested in serving on the Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee. There are six (6) openings in the following categories, two (2) in each category:

• “Business Operator” or “Property Owner” from Redevelopment Area 1
• “Business Operator” or “Property Owner” from Redevelopment Area 2

The state has picked Carson City to develop a pilot program designed to make insurance companies cover some of the cost of immunizations. The legislative Interim Finance Committee on Tuesday appro...

LAS VEGAS – President Obama will today announce he is expanding a federal aid program to allow more homeowners to refinance their mortgages at today’s low interest rates, said White House officials this morning.

CARSON CITY – Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has joined with her Utah counterpart Mark Shurtleff  in asking the U.S. Senate to take up consideration of Rich Cordray’s nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

A federal effort to pump affordable loan money into rural communities across the nation is bringing the city of Caliente a brand new pumper truck and a rescue vehicle with a mini-pumper, and not a moment too soon.

CARSON CITY – Scott Beaulier is no fan of states borrowing money, but in his new working paper on transitioning public pensions to 401(k) style plans to reduce taxpayer liabilities to pay retirement benefits, the Troy University professor says it is an option worth considering.

(press release) Las Vegas, NV – Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto today announced that she filed an Assurance of Discontinuance with Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings (“Morgan Stanley”) to resolve an investigation into the firm’s role in purchasing and securitizing roughly 3,000 subprime mortgages in Nevada.

Nevada Business Connections is pleased and proud to announce two new members on our Advisory Board.  Amy Ginder, Director of Institutional Research at Western Nevada College, and Dr. Fred Steinmann, Managing Principal at EDSolutions LLC.

CARSON CITY – Fourth Estaters and members of the public interested in the esoteric world of political campaign contribution and expense reports should be salivating with the knowledge that as of Jan. 1, this information will finally be available in a usable format.
Secretary of State Ross Miller said that as a result of campaign finance reporting reforms he sought and the Legislature approved this past session, the contributions candidates receive and the expenditures they make on their campaigns will soon be much more transparent.

Nevada consumers and small businesses can now review and comment on rate hikes in their health insurance policies online.

The Interim Finance Committee on Wednesday released $23 million in funding to pay this fiscal year's interest on money borrowed to pay unemployment claims.Employment Security Administrator Cindy Jo...

Nevada lawmakers today approved money to cover the costs of the upcoming special election, received an update on the progress of the state’s health care insurance exchange and complained repeatedly that state agencies were thumbing their noses at the legislative process.

After bickering about the cost, members of the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee agreed unanimously Wednesday to use $539,137 in legislative contingency funds to pay for the Sept. 13 special election to pick a new member of Congress.

A legislative subcommittee decided yesterday to cut or delay several building and maintenance projects due to budget constraints. The Interim Finance Committee (IFC) today will vote whether to approve the recommendations made by the subcommittee.

The Legislative Commission today approved new fees for public record requests and a new expense report form for elections as well as appointed members to two dozen committees that meet during the interim.

CARSON CITY – The Board of Examiners today approved a request for more than half a million dollars from a legislative contingency fund to pay the counties for the cost of the Sept. 13 special election in the 2nd Congressional District.

Both city officials and Steve Neighbors of the Carson Nugget agree some of the details on how financing for the City Center Project will work are unclear at this point.But Neighbors told the adviso...

CARSON CITY – Secretary of State Ross Miller is seeking more than half a million dollars from a legislative contingency fund to pay the counties for the cost of the Sept. 13 special election in the 2nd Congressional District.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval has appointed Las Vegas financial adviser Ken Wiles to the Economic Forum, a panel of mostly private citizen fiscal experts charged with making tax revenue projections for the state.