Lobbyist outlines hits to Carson City: Warns city to prepare for 2013

By the time lawmakers left town earlier this month, Carson City ended up taking a $1.5 million annual hit in transferred services, city lobbyist Mary Walker told the officials Thursday.

"Some of these services the state has provided for 50 years, and it hit us in just four months," Walker said.

"I'm hearing from legislators that in 2013, there will be another shift in services to the counties," she said, "and I don't think they solved their budget problems, so 2013 is going to be tough times."

Walker, formerly the city's finance director, advised the board of supervisors to use the interim period to look into options for lessening the impact of any further shifts.

Walker represented a coalition comprised of Carson City and Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties.

"Throughout the whole session, I don't think our four counties have ever worked so well and in lockstep," she said. "Our standing as a four-county coalition took a notch up. The word is out there about how much we have done by working together, and I don't recall any areas of disagreement."

Walker also suggested a way to prepare might be to start working with the other rural counties throughout the state.

"I was the only rural lobbyist in the building every day speaking against the shift. As we prepare, we first need to get together with the other rurals, and secondly, we need to work more closely with the governor and staff. We have a very good relationship with the department heads at the state."

Supervisor Shelly Aldean also suggested that the Nevada Association of Counties be more involved.

"We need a rural vision representation in NACO," she said.

Clark and Washoe County, who already pay for some of the services the state wanted to transfer to the rural counties, lobbied throughout most of the session that rurals needed to share the burden.

Supervisor Molly Walt, who serves as the city's representative to NACO, said the association's hands were pretty much tied because it represent all counties, not just the rurals.

"It was very contentious," she said of NACO's discussions.

Walker said the Legislature will have an interim consolidated tax committee and suggested the city might want to have a representative on that panel.

"Carson City could be hit with subsidizing other counties. It's just a real mess. We need rural representation on that committee away from the heat of the session," she said.

Over the next two years, counties will pick up the following services: consumer/environmental health, children's mental health, a Medicaid match, some hospital funding, youth parole, rural child protective services, juvenile justice, youth detention, juvenile room and board, a percentage of pre-sentence investigations.

Carson City's annual impact will be nearly $1.5 million; Douglas County's will also be $1.5 million; Lyon's will be $1.2 million; and Storey's will be about $206,000.

In other matters Thursday, the board:

• Approved a contract for conflict counsel attorney services in the amount of about $342,000 per year over the next three years.

• Approved a request to amend a $6.8 million contract for the north-south water transmission line by adding about $495,000, due to increased costs for PVC materials.

• Approved request to enter into property insurance agreements for fiscal year 2011-12.

• Approved a request to renew an excess liability insurance policy.

• Approved a request to augment the fiscal year 2010-11 budget in the amount of nearly $14 million primarily due to carryover of program costs.

• Approved a resolution for temporary interfund loans from the general fund to the water, ambulance, grant and street maintenance funds to cover temporary cash shortages in those funds.

• Approved the expenditure of $108,623 from the 2011-12 revolving fund to support various Carson City special events, with payment to the Cove Cafe concert series and the Ghost Walks to be held back until their respective issues were resolved.

• Approved an agreement for about $44,000 which will provide online training to employees on workplace harassment prevention and other employment topics.

• Approved an agreement with Douglas County which provides for Carson City to maintain their 15 traffic signals and other lighting systems in Douglas County.

Acting as the Redevelopment Authority, the board:

• Augmented the 2010-11 redevelopment budget in the amount of about $2 million to appropriate previously unbudgeted resources.

Acting as the Board of Health, they:

• Heard a presentation on the mass antibiotic dispensing exercise held in May.

• Heard the director's report regarding the department's activities.

• Received an update on activities including job fairs that the Workforce Program has been conducting.

• Met the new volunteer program coordinator for the Carson City Animal Shelter and heard about the new volunteer program starting up.