Court rules in favor of state in $62 million grab

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010 | 1:19 p.m.

CARSON CITY – A district judge has ruled that a state act to strip $62 million from the Clean Water Coalition in Clark County was “legislative cannibalism” but the law is constitutional.

District Judge David Baker, in an 11-page decision, granted a summary judgment in favor of the Nevada Legislature, Gov. Jim Gibbons and other state officials.

The special session of the Legislature this year faced with budget shortfalls decided to take the money from the coalition composed of local governments in Clark County.

Baker, although he didn’t like the law, ruled it constitutional. “Because political subdivisions in Nevada are mere instrumentalities of the state, each political subdivision remains subject to the overriding sovereign control of statutes enacted by the Legislature.”

He stayed his decision to allow the coalition to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

The coalition and the M Resort in Henderson filed suits challenging the law. Others joining in support of the coalition were PH Metro, Ovation Development, Jet Hangers, Sun City Summerlin and the Henderson Chamber of Commerce.

The judge said the Legislature was taking money from the waste water users in Clark County and any return benefit to Clark County “is at best speculative.”

The decision said the $62 million was excess from the fees collected from its member agencies.

The bill approved by the Legislature “is tantamount to legislative cannibalism, however, for over 100 years the law in Nevada states that cities, counties and other political subdivisions do not have the constitutional power of home rule.”

Baker said that contrary to the language in the law, the Legislature could have passed a general law to raise revenue for the state, instead of looking at the coalition to help out in the time of state fiscal problems.

But he said a state law cannot be ruled unconstitutional unless illegality appears beyond a reasonable doubt.

The judge said the initial project of the CWC was to build a pipeline to transport the treated effluent from the local government treatment plants to Lake Mead and to generate hydroelectric power from effluent carried in the pipeline.

The project was estimated to cost $850 million but in December 2009, the coalition decided to suspend construction until 2012 due to the economic decline, lack of growth and current treatment standards.