State agencies will have to pay for cars donated by NHP

Thursday, June 17, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- During a four-year period, the Nevada Highway Patrol donated scores, if not hundreds, of its used vehicles to other state agencies and to police units in local government.

But now state legislators want the recipients to pay the cash value for the vehicles they received.

The patrol is supported from the state highway fund. Brenda Erdoes, legal counsel for the Nevada Legislature, told the Interim Finance Committee Wednesday there is a restriction on giving away items purchased from the highway fund. She said the highway fund must be reimbursed for the vehicles that were given away.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said the Nevada Constitution "has been violated." The highway fund must be repaid, she said.

The issue arose during consideration of the finance committee of a budget transfer for the Taxicab Authority in Las Vegas. The authority had received 12 of these vehicles and spent $2,800 to repairs each car.

Representatives of the Taxicab Authority said they would have a problem paying the patrol an estimated $22,000 since the authority had a reserve of more than $400,000.

But state Budget Director Perry Comeaux said repayment would be difficult for many small agencies. He said some of them would have to seek an emergency appropriation from the Legislature to repay the money.

The cars were transferred from 1999 until Sept. 5, 2003, when the Legislature notified the patrol and the state Purchasing Division that payment was required for donated vehicles.

In other action Wednesday, the Finance Committee agreed to allow the secretary of state's office to spend $550,555 from a special account in order to receive an estimated $10 million from the federal government to finance election reforms.

Most of the money will be paid to Sequoia Voting Systems for new voting machines being delivered to all the counties in Nevada except Clark County. Clark has already purchased with its own money up-to-date voting machines.

Secretary of State Dean Heller has ordered that each machine in Nevada have a printer unit so the voter can view whom he or she has cast his ballot for. That means these printer units will have to be added to the machines in Clark County.

Dan Musgrove, a representative of Clark County, said there is a question about whether all of the voting machines in Clark County can be retrofitted with the printing unit. He said local officials are meeting with Sequoia officials to look at the problem.