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December 2, 2009

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Northern Nevada lands bill proposed

Friday, March 26, 1999 | 1:55 a.m.

The bill, offered by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., is patterned after a similar proposal for Southern Nevada that became law last year.

The northern Nevada lands bill would require competitive bidding for public land sales, and a 15 percent payment to local governments based on the value of land exchanges.

Also, revenue splits from land sales would include 5 percent for the state, 45 percent for local governments, and 50 percent for the federal government.

"Landlocked in many cases by federal lands, these (northern Nevada) communities are hampered from expanding and developing new businesses, which bring in much needed revenues," Reid said.

Gibbons said the bill addresses the diminishing tax base of rural counties in northern Nevada because the federal government owns 87 percent of the state's land.

"To top it off, the federal government has left Nevada's rural communities out in the cold by failing to approximate the lost revenue that local governments would otherwise generate through private property taxes," Gibbons said.

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