Rebate checks to be delayed about one week

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 | 11:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's planned $300 million rebate is going to be delayed about one week, officials said this morning.

Guinn's administration had previously said it expected to mail the checks this week. Now the checks aren't expected to start arriving in mailboxes until Oct. 5 at the earliest.

David McTeer, in charge of the program, said he wanted more testing on the public website that citizens can access for more information. He said the testing was a "little behind" and he wanted to make sure there were no glitches.

McTeer said today that the 1,881,399 checks totaling $271,894,086 have already been printed. He said temporary help will be brought on board Tuesday to train for answering telephone calls from people who have questions about their checks.

Those who registered vehicles last year are to receive checks ranging from $75 to $275 for each vehicle, depending on the tax they paid to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The bill also provided that each person over 65 years of age who who did not register a vehicle but has a Nevada identification cards is to receive a $75 rebate.

In addition, the Legislative Counsel Bureau issued a legal opinion that said that each senior citizen who has a Nevada driver's license but did not register a vehicle is also to receive a $75 rebate. They will be the last to get the rebates.

McTeer estimated that would add 66,000 to 68,000 seniors and will bring the total rebate to about $282 million. He said $5 million of leftover money is expected to be left over is to go to a disaster relief fund in the state Division of Emergency Planning.

The remainder of the money will go back to the state treasury.