state budget

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval says he is disappointed that Clark County has decided to sue to recover $102.5 million in property taxes taken by the 2009 Legislature to balance Nevada’s budget, but said the “state is on very solid ground in this case.”

CARSON CITY – The financial health of Nevada’s public employee pension plan is cause for serious concern because it is only 70 percent funded as of fiscal year 2010 with a $10 billion gap, a national organization reported this week.

The Pew Center on the States said the funding ratio in Nevada is below the 80 percent benchmark that fiscal experts recommend for a sustainable program.

CARSON CITY – Two Republican members of the Assembly who both want to move into the Senate in District 18 faced off today in a televised debate that focused primarily on a controversial 2011 tax vote.

CARSON CITY – State lawmakers today approved $46,284 from a legislative contingency fund to help the Nevada Office of the Military cover a budget shortfall due to high energy costs resulting from a solar project built at three of its sites around the state.

But lawmakers also asked for an attorney general review of the 20-year deal with Sierra Solar to see if the 15 cent per kilowatt hour charge for the electricity can be modified. The rate is now higher than what the agency could get buying power directly from NV Energy.

LAS VEGAS — Gov. Brian Sandoval today told conservative business group Keystone Corporation that his decision to support a two-year extension of taxes that were scheduled to expire eliminates the need for any new taxes to balance the state budget.

CARSON CITY – Nevada casinos won $932.2 million in February for a 5.7 percent gain over the same month in 2011, even without the Chinese New Year event that annually brings high rollers to the Las Vegas Strip, the Gaming Control Board reported today.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s Office of the Military figured it would be money ahead after entering into a contract with a firm to build solar panels on three of its sites around the state to supply it with electricity.

But today officials with the office won approval from the state Board of Examiners to seek $46,284 from a legislative contingency fund to pay excess utility costs. The reason is because the solar energy being provided under the contract is costing the agency more than if it purchased electricity directly from NV Energy.

CARSON CITY – State AFL-CIO leader Danny Thompson said today his labor group is moving forward with a broad-based business profits tax ballot measure to raise money for education.

Thompson, interviewed on the Nevada NewsMakers television program, said the proposal will go forward as a petition to amend state law, which would first be considered by the Legislature in 2013. If the Legislature did not approve the measure within 40 days, it would go to the voters in 2014.

CARSON CITY – Nevada barely earned a C grade for its efforts in providing online access to government spending data with a score of 70, according to the latest report: “Following the Money 2012”, released this week by a national group.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s top state administrators gathered together in meeting rooms and via the internet today to hear first-hand about Gov. Brian Sandoval’s initial plans for his 2013-15 budget.

The all-day meeting called “Budget Kickoff” was intended to provide instructions to state administrators on how to begin preparing their spending plans for the new two-year budget that will take effect on July 1, 2013.

CARSON CITY – A new report questions the value of tax incentives and regulations approved by many states around the country, including Nevada, to create “green jobs,” noting that subsidies used for such programs can take away revenue for other needs such as public education.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he will propose to extend a package of taxes now set to expire in June 2013 into the next budget to avoid further cuts to education, which he said cannot withstand further reductions.

To maintain a basically flat spending plan for the two-year budget that will begin on July 1, 2013, Sandoval said the modified business tax that was maintained at a higher rate for large businesses in the 2011 legislative session, along with a small increase in the sales tax, must be continued.

CARSON CITY – A national nonprofit organization seeking fundamental reforms to state budgeting today sent a letter to the nation’s governors urging them to follow General Motors’ lead and freeze defined benefit pensions for all public employees.

Over the weekend, the Paradise Cove Cafe in Carson Mall closed its doors, the end to a labor of love for owners Doug and Jamesa Cramer.

"Relieved" was the first word Doug said when I asked him how he was doing. The efforts to keep the restaurant in business over the last year and 10 months had clearly taken a toll.

CARSON CITY – A firm hired in January to take over operation of the state’s Medicaid billing and information systems has failed to complete the first key step in the process by an August deadline and has been given an extension to Dec. 5.

CARSON CITY – Nevada ranks well overall in an analysis by the nonpartisan State Budget Solutions of spending trends over the past decade, coming in 12th in the review of how states have managed their money in times of growth and recession.

CARSON CITY – Nevadans are more pessimistic now about the state of the economy than they have been since early 2010, according to the most recent poll commissioned by the Retail Association of Nevada.

Dr. Sue Fawn Chung, the leading authority on the history of the Chinese in Nevada, presents a lecture on her new book of the same title, Thursday, September 22 at the Nevada State Museum. Dr. Chung will be available at 6:00 pm to sign her book, The Chinese in Nevada, recently published by Arcadia; the lecture will begin at 7:00 pm. The Chinese in Nevada boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by. Professor Chung has been teaching at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, since 1975.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today state officials will meet with Clark and Washoe county representatives who are seeking nearly $124 million in refunds from the state – before deciding if litigation is necessary.
Sandoval, attending a meeting of the Board of Examiners, said afterward that Nevadans expect their elected officials to talk over disputes to see if they can be resolved before resorting to the courts.

School just started and every Republican state lawmaker has already received a failing grade from Nevada’s teachers’ union.
The Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) has released its 2011 legislative session report card and the 16 Assembly and 11 Senate Republicans all earned an F, according to the statewide association.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Silver State has ranked high on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's recently released "Enterprising States: Recovery and Renewal for the 21st Century" report.
"To be ranked first in export intensity growth and export growth among other Western states like Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington is a real point of pride for our state," said Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval.

CARSON CITY – When Jeff Mohlenkamp decided to accept the job as Nevada’s newest budget director, he knew going in it was going to be a challenge.
The state’s economic slump continues to be a drag on funding government services, although gaming and sales tax revenues have shown some improvement in recent months.

CARSON CITY – Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said today it will probably be another month before she can publicly report the results of her staff’s legal conclusions regarding requests for refunds from the state by Clark and Washoe counties totaling $123 million.
Masto said her office is still “moving through the process” to determine if any refunds are owed the two local governments. Once that analysis is completed, Masto said her legal findings will be shared privately with Gov. Brian Sandoval.

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.

Coin collectors and numismatists from all over the country will be flocking to Carson City August 26-27 to purchase the coveted Mint Mark “CC” coins and other collectibles. In fact, the hobby of coin collecting is more popular than ever before, thanks to the high price of gold. Twenty-five dealers will be on hand from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm both Friday and Saturday, giving free appraisals and offering valuable wares to buy, sell, and trade. Fabulous prizes will be raffled off both days, culminating in the Grand Prize Drawing at 3 pm on Saturday.

Curator of History, Robert Nylen presents Early Frontier Baseball, at the Nevada State Museum Thursday, August 18, 2011, from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Note: this lecture is presented one week early due to the coin show.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval’s reluctant decision to support an extension of tax increases to balance the state budget in the 2011 legislative session does not appear to have caused him any lasting damage in the eyes of voters, according to the results of a recent survey by a GOP polling firm.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval’s reluctant decision to support an extension of tax increases to balance the state budget in the 2011 legislative session does not appear to have caused him any lasting damage in the eyes of voters, according to the results of a recent survey by a GOP polling firm.

Carson City Supervisors will be voting at their Aug. 4 meeting on whether to increase fees for a host of services, including water, sewer, right-of-way-toll, electric and natural gas franchise fees, and landfill rates.

During last week's board meeting, City Manager Larry Werner discussed increased costs the city will incur due to changes in the state budget, and franchise fees were one of the options raised to fill that gap.

CARSON CITY – Nevada has the 18th lowest taxpayer burden to cover unfunded public employee pension and health care costs among the states, but policy makers are still failing to adequately address the shortfall, a national organization reported in a new comprehensive analysis.