RTC member: Money is what Southern Nevada needs

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury should go before the State Transportation Board on Friday with a relatively simple message: Southern Nevada needs more money for roads and transit programs.

Woodbury, a member of the Regional Transportation Commission, said the message will come as an outgrowth of a year-long consultation between the RTC and the community that found near gridlock hovering around the corner for Las Vegas and Clark County.

"We not only have a serious situation now, but it is only going to become worse," he said. "We're going to be telling the state board that we intend to try to do our part, as we always have, but we will definitely need a much greater share of state and federal dollars to get the job done."

The state board sets transportation funding priorities throughout Nevada, dispersing about $320 million annually in state and federal funds. It doesn't control locally funded projects, such as the construction of the Las Vegas Beltway.

The RTC already is looking for additional dollars locally. The RTC board today will consider a proposal to raise $2.6 billion over the next 25 years for roads and mass transit with a package of tax increases.

The local agency has already announced cuts to local mass transit programs and is today considering more service reductions.

But even with additional revenue and spending cuts, the region needs the state's help, Woodbury and RTC officials argue.

Kent Cooper, assistant planning director for the Nevada Department of Transportation, said Clark County now gets about half of the state's $320 million annual roadwork budget.

But about three-quarters of the state's 2 million people live in Clark County.

Cooper said the numbers aren't directly equivalent. Much of NDOT's annual budget is spent on road maintenance statewide.

But for new roads and road expansions, coined "capacity projects," Southern Nevada gets 80 to 85 percent of the state's annual budget, Cooper said.

Taking a larger share of the pie of federal and state dollars would mean less money for other parts of the state. Complicating the picture is a federal funding cut of almost $50 million for Nevada proposed by the Bush administration. The federal money is generally dispersed by NDOT.

Because next year's budget sets a base line for a new long-range federal road funding package, that cut could last for five or six years. The state's congressional delegation says it is trying to restore at least some of the money.

Even in the face of declining funding, Woodbury and RTC General Manager Jacob Snow say additional investment is critical for all Nevada because this region's economy drives the entire state.

"Everybody in the state has a stake in seeing the economy of Southern Nevada thrive," Woodbury said.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, lives in the north but doesn't disagree that Clark County needs more funding.

"You have got to realize that 70 percent of the people are there and it does play a phenomenal role in the state," said Amodei, vice-chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

But NDOT Director Tom Stephens and other staff are cautious about making any promises. Stephens, who serves as a non-voting member of the RTC board, emphasized earlier this week that he works for the entire state, not just Southern Nevada.

NDOT spokesman Bob McKenzie said it is completely appropriate for stakeholders in the budget process to make their pitch to the state board, but "far too preliminary" for the state to make promises now.

"We would need to evaluate the future projects to see where the money would best be spent, and that's statewide," McKenzie said.