Gas tax funds to TRPA questioned

Jennifer Coleman

Friday, Jan. 22, 1999 | 4:15 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Lawmakers raised questions Friday about Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposal for funding Nevada's $1.3 million share of costs of the bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Guinn plans to shift the TRPA's source of Nevada dollars from the state's general fund to a pollution control fund within the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety.

The TRPA is jointly funded by California and Nevada and was formed to preserve and enhance the Lake Tahoe region by regulating development in the area. The pollution control account gets revenue from the sale of emissions certificates to smog stations.

Assembly Ways and Means Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, warned that the plan would be closely scrutinized by money committees to ensure that it's fair to counties that are outside the Tahoe Basin. All but three of Nevada's 17 counties are outside the basin.

Budget Director Perry Comeaux said the governor weighed the benefit to the state when forming the proposal.

"Considering the status of Lake Tahoe, its value to the state, the relationship between this agency and the fund, we do think it's an appropriate use of funds," he said.

The pollution control account has a projected balance of $5.8 million by the end of fiscal 1999. By the end of the coming two-year budget cycle, it would be down to $3.5 million.

TRPA spokeswoman Pam Drum said the amount her agency gets isn't in question, and the only change would be where the money came from.

Lawmakers also heard a request for more than $8 million to upgrade the Nevada Highway Patrol's radio system.

The NHP received $5 million during the last biennium for the system and is now requesting an additional $8 million to finish the upgrade.

Senate Finance Chairman Bill Raggio, R-Reno, asked DMV deputy chief Ray Sparks to clarify why the Legislature was being asked to fund the project again.

"This is a significant increase. Was misinformation provided or is there a misunderstanding?" he said. "I don't want to create another NOMAD system here."

NOMAD is the $90-million-dollar computer system for the state welfare system that has been years in development and is just now coming on line.

Sparks assured the lawmakers that his request for money to complete the project would be the last.

"This should be the cost for the entire system statewide and there is no reason to think there would be more costs," he said.

The amount granted during the last legislative session wasn't for the second phase of the project. Sparks said the upgrade would replace an obsolete radio system and is necessary to protect officers.

In other matters, the legislators questioned why a special unit handling auto thefts wasn't recommended in Guinn's budget.

The Vehicle Investigations Project for Enforcement and Recovery, or VIPER, operated for just 14 months in southern Nevada, where about 1,100 cars are stolen every month.

"I believe it's just the problem with the limited general funds that are available this year," said John Drew, acting director of DMV and Public Safety.

Because it was so new, Drew added there's no accurate way to tell whether the program was effective.