Agency funding passes hurdle

Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 12:55 p.m.

Budget committees in the state Senate and Assembly have approved proposed funding of $1.94 million for the bistate agency that regulates development in the Tahoe Basin.

California lawmakers must approve $2 in agency funds for every dollar approved by the Nevada Legislature. The TRPA takes in another $1.4 million in various fees, revenues and grants.

"The discussion went well," said Jim Baetge, the agency's executive director, after attending one of the budget hearings last week.

Also getting support from the Budget Subcommittee on Resources was $11 million in extra funding for the Tahoe Basin that is part of Gov. Pete Wilson's Tahoe Initiative. Of that, the California Tahoe Conservancy would get $10.3 million to acquire sensitive land, while $721,000 will go toward establishing two new California Conservation Corps crews in the basin.

The money approved for the TRPA includes $1.4 million in baseline funding and $563,000 for supplemental projects.

Among the supplemental projects are an enhancement of the Environmental Geographic Information System, implementation of a threshold study, second-year funding for the Environmental Improvement Program and activities to streamline the agency's regulations.

While the budget committees expressed no reservations about the Tahoe funding, the TRPA's bistate funding is an awkward process that can sometimes result in surprises.

During the state's extended recession, California lawmakers pared the agency's budget to save money. Two years ago, former Tahoe Assemblyman David Knowles passed an Assembly bill that cut the agency's funding in half.

Full funding was restored by a compromise hammered out by state Sen. Tim Leslie, which called for a performance audit of the TRPA and promises of additional streamlining.