Editorial: Put surplus to good use

Sunday, June 11, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

Nevada businesses are booming and have been ever since the state Legislature, in 2003, raised taxes for the first time since 1991. The sharp uptick in the economy is proof that Nevadans can well afford slightly higher taxes in exchange for improved schools and improvements in other state services.

The economy is so good that tax money coming into the state treasury exceeds what has been budgeted for education, public safety, health care, social services, state parks and other public programs that contribute to the quality of life here.

A $300 million surplus that had accumulated by the time of the legislative session last year was rebated to the taxpayers at the insistence of Gov. Kenny Guinn. The checks, which ranged between $75 and $275, constituted the first such rebate in Nevada history.

We hope the 2005 rebate also becomes known as the only one in state history.

It is Nevada's good fortune that surplus tax money continues to roll into the treasury. State finance officials believe that by June 30, 2007 (the end of that fiscal year), the state will have a surplus nearly twice the size of the one in 2005.

Gov. Guinn has asked state agencies for their recommendations on how to spend the extra money. He has also suggested that all or some of the money might again be rebated to taxpayers. As Guinn's second term ends before the 2007 legislative session, he will not be in power to push the ill-advised idea of a rebate.

In our view, the 2007 Legislature should stand firm against any rebate, if the new governor insists upon one. Legislators should vote to spend the surplus, all of it, on the critical needs that piled up during the 12 years in which taxes weren't even raised to compensate for inflation.

Education, including K-12 and the state's universities and community colleges, remains underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars. Increasing the per-student allocation at the Community College of Southern Nevada so that it is even with the state's three other community colleges would cost tens of millions.

Transportation is another area in critical need of more funding.

As the higher taxes passed in 2003 are demonstrably not causing hardship, they should be used to compensate for the years in which Nevada neglected its many and vital public services.