Making its concerns known

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.

The Clark County Commission is the most powerful local government body in Nevada, with a reach that includes the famed Las Vegas Strip, McCarran International Airport and University Medical Center. One might think the county can extract whatever it wants from the state.

But that could not be further from the truth.

This year’s session of the Nevada Legislature highlighted an ongoing, serious breakdown in the relationship between the county and state lawmakers. As reported by Joe Schoenmann in Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun, the blame game kicked into full gear as the result of a $100 million hit that the county will take to its $1.35 billion general fund budget over the coming year because of legislative actions. The county will lose an additional $80 million the following year.

The Legislature, looking to shore up sagging state revenue, turned to the county and saw what it perceived as a pot of gold. As Senate Taxation Committee Chairman Bob Coffin said, lawmakers needed only to look at the fact that county firefighters were in line to receive 3 percent cost-of-living raises while state workers were being forced to take furloughs equal to 4.6 percent pay cuts.

The county, arguing that it is not swimming in cash, has asked its departments to take budget cuts.

The commission could have lessened the financial blow had it done a much better job of reaching out to state lawmakers before and during the legislative session. By establishing stronger relationships with lawmakers and by speaking with one voice, the commission could have made a stronger case for the harm the state actions would cause to the operation of the county.

Allowing the county to operate under home rule, which would give the commission more leeway over its budget, might also have helped.

But communication goes both ways. Legislators who represent Southern Nevada should improve their understanding of county issues so they can make better informed decisions when they vote in Carson City.

After all, those lawmakers must return home after the session and deal with the very constituents whose lives can be adversely affected by cuts to county services.