By Cy Ryan

Thu, Mar 13, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Carson City — State legislators are being quietly surveyed to see whether they would support new or increased taxes to offset a $5 billion to $6 billion shortfall in money for building highways over the next decade.

But Gov. Jim Gibbons isn’t retreating from his stand of no new or higher taxes, saying: “The answer to the legislators is no.”

Sen. Dennis Nolan, chairman of an interim legislative committee on transportation, said he wants to see what taxes, if any, would be “most palatable” to shore up funding for road construction.

He has asked the heads of the Legislature’s four caucuses — Republican Senate and Assembly and Democratic Senate and Assembly — to determine whether there’s any appetite for boosting taxes. So far he hasn’t received any answers.

State Transportation Director Susan Martinovich told the committee last month billions more are needed to construct roads. At the time, committee members said they first wanted to know whether Gibbons would go for any new or increased tax to address the problem.

Lawmakers said they didn’t want their staffs spending extra time on the issue if Gibbons wouldn’t budge on his tax stand. And the governor insists he won’t.

“It would be a mistake to relent on that pledge,” Gibbons said.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said he doubts there is a two-thirds majority in the Senate to pass any tax legislation in the 2009 Legislature. Townsend, a member of the interim transportation committee and a member of the Senate Taxation Committee, said he prefers to wait to see any alternative plan proposed by the governor.

Gibbons says his administration will look at ways to borrow money, possible public-private partnerships and methods to lower highway costs.

“Right now there are individuals who are constructing four-lane highways on private property who do it for much less in terms of cost per mile than we are seeing coming out of the public sector,” Gibbons said.

The state Transportation Department now puts road construction projects out to bid, with the private company that submits the lowest bid traditionally getting the contract.

With gasoline already at record high prices, one idea not being considered is raising the gas tax. The major sources for highway funding are the gas tax and the federal government.

Nolan says there are “dozens of revenue streams” available, but he wants to pick the “low-hanging first.”

The state may be able to bond for an additional $250 million to $300 million for road construction. The trucking industry might go along with an increase in diesel taxes. Or the depreciation on cars and trucks might be frozen for one year to bring in more revenue from annual motor vehicle registration fees.

One of the more controversial options is to create toll lanes on Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, a plan some estimate could raise $1 billion over several years.

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After two cost overruns in building the $53 million state museum in Las Vegas, Nevada plans to be a sterner watchdog.

The project, being built at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, originally was budgeted at $35 million. The museum might be ready to open in February or March 2009, but still needs $6 million to purchase exhibits.

The state Board of Examiners, whose chairman is the governor, has extended the contract for the Las Vegas Valley Water District to oversee the construction.

But the state Public Works Board is going to keep a closer watch on the project’s costs, Board Manager Gus Nunez said.

Officials attribute the project’s rising price tag primarily to escalation in material and labor costs.

The museum is being built on property owned by the Water District. Instead of having the Public Works Board manage the construction, as is customary, the state decided to use the Water District.

Scott Sisco, former acting director of the state Cultural Affairs Department, said there was concern that there might be environmental damage and delays at the springs preserve if the state went ahead on its own.