RTC warned about loss of funds to state

Friday, March 9, 2001 | 11:59 a.m.

A lobbyist has warned the Regional Transportation Commission that lawmakers in Carson City are eyeing local government revenues as a way to fund state projects.

The prospect raises "consternation and concern" among local governments, particularly the transportation commission, Terry Cordell, RTC assistant general manager, said Thursday.

The state government is grappling with a tight budget and tough funding issues.

Bryan Gresh, the RTC's legislative lobbyist, told the commission a meeting Wednesday with lawmakers left him with the clear impression that a raid on local revenue sources is a possibility, although no bills have yet to be introduced to take such action.

State Sen. Jon Porter, R-Henderson, said lawmakers are looking at every local government agency's bottom line as the state tries to balance its books.

He said local governments, including the RTC, need to make sure they are spending "wisely and efficiently," or the state might come looking for revenues. But the state scrutiny isn't designed to single out the RTC, he said.

At least one local lawmaker, State Sen. Raymond Shaffer, D-North Las Vegas, said he would absolutely oppose any attempt to plunder RTC coffers. Shaffer said he hasn't heard of a raid on RTC revenue.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, said he also would champion the RTC if lawmakers turn to the agency as a way to balance the bottom line.

"A limited number of legislators are saying, 'Hmmm, what's there?"' Parks said. "I think a number of local governments are hoping that the Legislature does not look closely at them."

Gresh said the scrutiny of the RTC budget and other government budgets is still at a "whisper" level, but still loud enough to alarm RTC administrators.

"It's the word through the building," Gresh said of the State Capitol building. "When you're facing the economic concerns that the state is facing right now, when you're looking at budget issues, I think everything gets put on the table."

Gresh said administrators at the RTC, including General Manager Jacob Snow, are rushing to get information out to the lawmakers to squelch a raid on the commission's funds.

The key message is that the RTC does not have money to give away, he said.

"There are no pots of gold," Gresh said. "That's what needs to come out."

Cordell agreed. The RTC is taking in $93 million a year from a .25-cent sales tax and bus fares, and spending $92 million a year to operate bus and transit services.

The tight margin has prevented any significant expansion of services for about two years, a potentially serious problem in the fast-developing Las Vegas Valley, Cordell said.

The RTC also helps fund work on roads and highways throughout the valley. The commission has committed to about $230 million in road projects, including work on the Beltway.

It has on hand about $130 million generated mostly through a 9-cent-per-gallon fuel tax and will likely issue bonds to cover the rest, Cordell said.

Longer term, the prospect is for even more spending -- $1.5 billion until the year 2022, he said.

"We are approving projects every year -- $35 to $40 million every year," Cordell said. "When you look at that golden pot at the rainbow, for all intents it's empty.

"We're not getting ahead. We're treading water."

Commission Chairman and Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said it is ironic the state would look to the RTC to balance its books. When the RTC got off the ground 10 years ago as the region's transportation planning and bus-service provider, the state did not help fund the operation, he said.

Now that local initiatives have funded the agency, the state wants a cut, Woodbury said.

Bryan Nix, a Boulder City councilman and commission member, warned that cutting into local transportation funding would hurt the state's coffers in the long run.

"We will become so congested that Las Vegas will not be a desirable place for visitors to come," Nix said. That would impact taxes that now flow to state government.

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