Panel OKs bill erasing White Pine schools’ $2 million debt to state

Thursday, May 27, 1999 | 2:59 a.m.

The panel approved an Assembly-endorsed plan to let the district off the hook for what's left of a $3.3 million loan made several years ago.

Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon, chief sponsor of AB480, told Finance members the district has been paying off the loan at the rate of about $328,000 a year.

She said that by erasing the debt, lawmakers "would provide some wiggle room for the district" for badly needed projects such as school repairs.

Finance Chairman Bill Raggio, R-Reno, agreed that the district had made major progress in resolving the problems that caused the need for the original loan.

Raggio also noted that lawmakers are helping the Lincoln County school district this year. The Senate voted unanimously Thursday to approve SB236, which appropriates $1 million to the district to replace an elementary school deemed to be structually unsafe.

The measure was authored by Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon. McGinness also signed on to de Braga's White Pine measure. The appropriation is contigent on a finding that the property tax rate is at its limit in Lincoln County.

Other conditions include a finding that the taxable value of property in the county is decreasing and that the construction is needed to get rid of a public safety risk.