Guinn unhappy with state leases

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 10:53 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn says the state pays $18 million to private landlords for office space every year and he's not happy about it.

"That's not a very smart thing to do," Guinn told a meeting of public administrators Thursday.

The governor hinted he may ask the 2001 Legislature to look into a possible law giving the state a tax break for leasing the private office space.

"If we rent the building, we're paying city taxes," he said. "Should we pay taxes of a few million (dollars) or should we be exempt?"

The state owns plenty of vacant property, Guinn said, and it might be better if it constructed its own buildings, financing the projects by using bonds.

"It would be a lot cheaper than the triple net lease," he said.

He said he doesn't understand why the state didn't have a long-range plan. He has met with the leadership in the Senate and Assembly over the issue.

Using bonds instead of paying cash may be the way to go in these times of tight state tax revenue. For instance, he said the Legislature authorized $10 million to spend in cash in 1997 to build a new mental health hospital in Sparks. He delayed the project for about six months and got the 1999 Legislature to issue bonds.

That freed up $10 million to be used on operating priorities, he said.

The governor also said he doesn't want his administrators back-dooring him with the Legislature. He wants his administration to concentrate on the "super priorities." Allowing every department to approach the Legislature with their own set of priorities "is not giving legislators a clean picture of our priorities," he said.

Agencies submit their budget requests and the governor trims many of them in his executive spending program. But department heads often go around the recommendation of the governor and ask for more money.

"Every time you do that, you are taking away from our ability to pass those three or four super-priorities," Guinn said.

Legislators often ask department heads if they need more money to do their job properly or if a project is going to cost more than the governor budgeted. And the directors have not been shy in telling lawmakers they could use the additional funds.