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Sunday, March 7, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Barbara Buckley
Sun archives
The M Resort is not the only entity that is considering suing the state over the $62 million the Legislature took from Clark County’s Clean Water Coalition.
And legislators are sounding worried that this may be a fight they could lose.
Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, has asked the Legislative Counsel Bureau to thoroughly examine the legality of the state’s special session money grab, and she is already warning of more cuts in education funding if the state can’t spend the coalition money — even though the dispute over whether the state had the authority to take the money hasn’t made it into court yet.
M Resort is to decide early this week whether it will sue to seek a refund of more than $700,000 in water connection fees it paid the Clean Water Coalition for a project that was canceled. The $62 million was an accumulation of special fees for a project that wound up being nixed.
“When you pay into a particular fund, do you have the right to rely on the fact that the funds will be used for that reason?” M Resort’s lawyer Chris Kaempfer said. “I would think that if you extract taxes for a special purpose, you cannot use it otherwise.”
Southern Nevada Home Builders Association members paid a lot of those fees too, so its leaders are to discuss the money grab later this month.
“We have concerns about the taking of that money because there is no nexus between what it was intended for and what the Legislature will use it for,” Executive Director Irene Porter said.
Most of the largest single payers are in the gaming industry. On Friday, several told the Sun they weren’t as riled up about the money as M Resort or the homebuilders are, but they also didn’t flatly rule out going after the state.
South Point owner Michael Gaughan, whose property paid $395,000 over the past four years, said: “If the industry doesn’t want to fight it, I will not fight it either.”
M Resort, a nearby competitor, doesn’t speak for the industry, Gaughan noted.
Gaming giant MGM Mirage paid $362,000 in connection fees to the coalition for CityCenter over the past four years. The company’s spokesman, Alan Feldman. said: “Our initial reading from our attorneys is that the state has a right to do this. We’re certainly going to keep an eye on this since we have a lot of money in it.”
A spokeswoman for Wynn Resorts, whose Encore paid $647,000 into the fund, said: “We are evaluating the fees we paid and how they were applied. We have not arrived at any conclusion.”
Hard Rock Hotel spokeswoman Dorian Cantrell, whose resort has paid $892,000 in special connection fees, said: “We are not going to engage in any suit at this time.”
The gaming industry is all too aware that the Legislature broached but backed off increasing the gaming tax as a way to help cover the state’s budget deficit.
But instead of raising the specter of returning to a gaming tax proposal as the fallback if the state has to give back the $62 million, Buckley is warning it is the state’s public schools that will pay the price.
The loss of $62 million would lead to another 3.5 percent reduction of $44.4 million for K-12 education, and $17.6 million for the state’s higher education system, she said.
That shouldn’t be an issue if the Legislature have solid legal authority to take the Clean Water Coalition’s money, though.
Legislative Counsel Bureau Director Lorne Malkiewich also said “we’re looking into it.”
Malkiewich said his bureau gave legislative leaders the green light to take the money. “Our opinion is that they could do this.”
But Malkiewich, citing attorney-client privilege, declined to discuss whether any specific laws were cited that give lawmakers the authority to use that money.
Edie Cartwright, spokeswoman for the attorney general, said that office couldn’t talk about the matter because “this action by the Legislature may result in litigation against the state, at which time we would be involved in that litigation.”
Clean Water Coalition Executive Director Chip Maxfield, a former Clark County commissioner, says his agency’s lawyers are also investigating whether the Legislature has the legal authority to take the money.
“We don’t believe that even though the state has a budget deficit that it should hold our money hostage,” Maxfield said. “We’re not happy about it.”
Buckley said neither are legislators.
“These are really desperate times as we manage through this fiscal crisis,” she said. “If we weren’t facing economic disasters, the Legislature wouldn’t have taken this money.”
Dan Burns, spokesman for Gov. Jim Gibbons, said the governor’s office had understood from the Legislative Counsel Bureau that the money was offered by the coalition “because the money wasn’t being used.”
Burns said the governor’s office likewise would be perplexed if the gaming industry pursued litigation over this issue after Gibbons “had bent over backward” to ensure there wouldn’t be increases in gaming, sales or payroll taxes.
Maxfield, though, said the coalition never offered its money to the state. In fact, he complained he was never given an opportunity to testify about the effect the taking of this money would have on his group.
The coalition is even considering seeking relief from the state treasurer’s office, he added, because the money taken represents “98 percent of our operating budget.”
A large percentage of the students who graduate from high school in Clark County are functionally illiterate and the schools are responsible for it. Even the better students who get accepted to UNLV or other colleges need to take bonehead english and math so they can do the college work. We have a top heavy, bloated, disfunctional school system that doesn't work. It has over 300 administrators who are paid at a level higher than a principal. I often wonder what their daily work routine entails. The district spends millions of dollars each year on consulting contracts. Are the 300 admininstrators so incompetent that they cannot perform the work being done by the consultants? Are these consultants really necessary or are they just payoffs to the cronies of the upper administration?
I believe that the taxpayers are paying too much now because the CCSD is providing the taxpayers with a fourth rate education product and wasting millions of dollars in the process.
It is time for a full blown audit of the school district both from a fiscal and performance standpoint to see what is really going on in the district. A student who graduates goes to school for thirteen years and at about $9000 a year (the actual number is much higher) the tapayers are spending $117,000 per child to "educate" them. Are we getting our moneys worth? I don't think so.
We always hear "more money, it's for the children" (That mantra is the first thing they teach in Education 1A). Let's get some real answers before we give them another dime.
Boycott the M!! They don't care about our children. They just want as much money for them as possible.
I hope the M wins the lawsuit. They will spend the money wisely, the state will only waste it.
Yup, let's take more money from K-12! What the "heck" do we care anyway? Our state is funded by the service industry, and education is not in high demand for most of the jobs in that area.
I've watched Buckley grow over the years. I was certain that she had the class to do what would have been right, given that she is termed out- and that is create a state income tax. Perhaps she wouldn't spearhead such an effort because she wanted her Democratic puppets to get re-elected? Oceguerra, Kirkpatrick, Smith, Conklin?
When are the Governor and legislative leaders going to impose a long term solution for our education woes? Even if each resident paid one percent of an income tax, it would fully fill the deficit, replenish the rainy day fund and secure financial solvency for decades to come.
Move forward with the suit M Resort. What Buckley did was cowardly. Shell probably come to you for a lobbying contract soon, so I hope you can forgive her. How else can she and Perkins survive? Creating a non gaming tax would have put her little dynasty puppets out of office. And she and Perkins must need them there for reasons we may never understand.
Governor OCallaghan would have handled things much differently. He would have taken the stance needed in this CRISIS without concern for anyones re- election. The Democrats should be ashamed.
chriscross
So you want a state income tax. Go to Utah they have a state income Tax 7%. Yet they are having education problems. If you look it up and the church TV (channel 5) confirmed the information Utah is number 49 in the amount of money it spends on each student. This state tried to get a lottery system for education but the Repubs thought it would cut in the Casino profit and speaking of that why is this the only state in the nation with the lowest gaming tax.
If the state had a 1% income tax the greedbags like Buckey would just find more ratholes to dump it into and then moan and whine like a bunch of little rats that it is not enough, we need more. Their infinate greed is never satisfied. Screw taxes and the parasites feeding off of them.
This is just one example of appropriated fund being used for otherwise!
North Las Vegas funds their general fund from the water department - This also should be illegal!
I suspect the grab on the Millenium scholarships will also face a court test.
M & ALL others taken by this SNWA/CWC scam should sue the individual County Commissioner Trustees who created the muck.
Commissioners WOODBURY, BROWN & COLLINS created their "water credit" scam to monopolize water right permits & extort ALL county developers & taxpayers.
The State should sieze the $$$ funds, & the individual trustees who created the scam(s) are personally $$$ liable to M, et al., plus punitive &/or criminal damages.
How taxes are spent or not spent should be decided by the taxpayers at the election polls.
Dan Burns, spokesman for Gov. Jim Gibbons, said the governor's office had understood from the Legislative Counsel Bureau that the money was offered by the coalition "because the money wasn't being used."
as usual, that statement by Gibbons is a bona fied lie.
Fool - the CWC creation was not on any ballad for voters! Such CWC scam(s) was/are created by such Commissioner Trustees. The [executive] police will tell you it's a "civil" issue, & ONLY the courts have authority to remedy any civil or criminal issue.
The Commissioner Trustees created, & the legislative branches failed to stop such CWC muck. Now jurisdiction is in judicial courts to remedy violations & damages.
Voting means nothing, unless equal ballance of the law & justice is enforced!
The State should seize such money under law by injunction, and the Developers & taxpayers should be granted their damages & restitutions from the individual Trustees who created the scam(s).
Correction: I only assume CWC creation was not put on a voter ballat!
If I had to pay a special connection fee for a system that would be built in the futre & they they decided not to build it and kept my money, I'd be pissed, too! Go, M!
Anthemccresident,
What people fail to realize is that the State is using the schools budget to get their hands on the money and gain the sympathy of the general public.
The problem is that our elected officials at the State level are public servants who may only work a half a year while sometimes maintaining their private job at the sametime.
If the state reps were truley concerned about the education of our children in Nevada they would find other ares that are not essential and completely cut those programs out.
I do not understand what this states objective is other then filter money to their pockets and their buddies pockets.
Personally if I was an elected official in office I would take a pay cut until the economic crisis had passed.These guys are in it for the buck not for the people they represent.
The Nevada residents need to realize what is going on with the current politicians in Nevada State level and Federal level.Nevada is constantly missing out on Federal dollars,that would help the residents of Nevada,because of incompitance when they are appling for the funding.For example the Housing Project that allows the State and County to purchase forclosed homes and sell them to individuals that otherwise could never buy a home.
By far Nevada has some really lazy leaders that do not care about the people of Nevada.
Moving here just over a year ago and after reading articles in The Sun and LVRJ this assumption is very clear.For Nevada to have a change in its opperations the citizens of Nevada first have to see light of their government and stand up to them and remove them.Most people believe that they do not have much say (once they have elected someone into office)in what is done and how it is done.In all do respect the elected officials answer to us the people and the people have a right ask them to quit and we find someone who is going to do the job in the best intrest of the people they represent.Nevadian's if you want change, you as Nevadian's have to make the change.Ignore corperate influence,Ignore party platforms and look at reality and who is best for the job.
If this means positions turning over every election that is what it means.Just because their is an incumbent does not mean they should automatically bipass a primary I believe that their should be a primary vote every election.
Keep them honest Nevadian's
The State leaders need to leave the clear Water funds alone and find the sources to maintain a Education Budget that will put our children above National average in education.They can do this if they want trust me they just do not want to have to apply themselves and put fourth the effort.
I'm sick of people like jlb101 who think education is OVER funded in its current state. Where do you think the 117,000 for 13 years of education goes? It doesn't go to the student directly, it goes for EVERYTHING you don't think of.
Sure, part of the money goes to fund teachers' salaries but what about everything else: Building maintainence of the schools, janitors who clean floors, vacumm carpets, take out the trash, gardening (schools have lawns and plants), someone to mow the grass, cut the weeds, painting of the outside and inside (not every year, but it's still an expense). What the cafeteria? Some money pays for the lunch workers who prepare your kids food, and what about the upkeep of vending machine (while most are contracted, it still involves money). What about the cost of books, and other classroom materials (desks needing to be replaced because they're broken/overused, pencils, pens, white board markers, overhead projectors, copies of tests/homework, handouts, educational videos).
What about the adminstration costs? Students meet with counselors regularly, and discipline is carried about by the deans. You need a health office with a nurse for all the sick kids, and trust me, every kid ends up there a couple times. That money helps pay for their salaries, because the students REQUIRE those services for education, and aren't something you can just gloss over.
Now... on to extracurricular activies. Money helps puchase musical instruments so student only need to rent them from the school instead of buying them. Money is involved in all the sports equipment needed for P.E. classes. And what about the dance classes, the cheerleader outfits, the football, basketball, and soccor uniforms? While this spending doesn't affect everyone, I can't imagine would want to cut these activies, because they themselves support education.
With all of this in the back of your mind, can you REALLY think that $9000 dollars per year is enough??? NO way. (oh, and quick search shows that NV spending per pupil is less that $8000 (in the 06-07 school year), and that was BEFORE the recession budget cuts hit).
I wish people would just think of all that goes into funding education. K-12 AND higher education. If you have been out of school a long time, or don't have kids, it's hard to imagine all that goes into it, so please take a moment to think before you bash education further into the ground.
(I apoligize for this being off topic for this story, but I really wanted to reply to jlb101)
CHRISCROSS<
You are 100% correct. The state needs to come up with a long term solution. These out of state companies are coming and raping our state of revenues and taking them back to where they are from. I too, hoped that some of these elected officials would have the guts to do the right thing, Unfortunately none of them have any guts. It is a real shame
The authors state:
"The gaming industry is all too aware that the Legislature broached but backed off increasing the gaming tax as a way to help cover the state's budget deficit."
THIS is the ONLY reason the other 'big boys' aren't going after the money- they know they would have had to pay MUCH more, if the tax increase had passed.
As to the money itself- I posted under the last article about this issue/the budget cuts for schools that I wanted to know why this COUNTY fund, didn't go into COUNTY schools...along with the $35 M that they (CCSD) have in the fund for things like painting the schools, and landscaping.
All this, so that Gov. Gibbons can still claim that he didn't raise taxes.
That's not an honourable stand to take, at a time like this, so why brag on it?
Privatize the public school systems by eliminating tax funding for them and make them pay-as-you-go. Just like Harvard and Stanford. Only do it from K to grade 16.
The confiscation of earmarked taxpayer funds by the government is scandalous. I fully back the M Resort and any other private business that was duped by this scam.
Barbara Buckley never met a dollar of my taxes that she didn't want to spend. She looks down her nose at hardworking people in this state demanding their hard-earned wages to give it to those who do nothing for it.
I'm a Democrat. I'm a Democrat that believes in equality of opportunity, not the equality of guaranteed outcomes.
I think nearly 6 billion thrown at education @ $13,000.00 per student, per year should take care of ALL the items mentioned in violet41's post AND more, yet they are under funded, why? where is the money going? Wait a minute, the presidents of the universities are roughly a mil, with housing subsidy and vehicle subsidy and bonuses for all sorts of things.Then they play on the public sympathy that its the kids that suffer. How long do we have to pretend to buy into that? hhhmmm
Enough of this state income tax talk. It is time that our Legislators start to trim the fat. A lottery is ridiculous as we already have plenty of gaming. If you want to play a lottery go to Arizona or California. They come here and leave a bundle of money so what if we send them a couple of dollars.
Isn't it also time parents take some responsibility for their children. Our schools are for learning not baby sitting. Years back an attempt was made to cut up the school district into smaller districts and many people were against it. This would have helped trim fat and make the school system here more efficient.
Everyone that likes to come here and enjoy the benefits of living in Nevada, but don't feel any commitment to the community should go back to where they came from if they don't like the way things work here. Some of these people are too dumb to realize the gaming industry has been the driving engine for Nevada. How can people attack the industry that supplies the jobs and money to our state, counties and cities. Dumb, dumb, and dumber.
theviolet,
You forgot to mention district provided vehicles and cell phones for administrators. Salaries of administrators and their staffs. (I'm talking administrators not in the schools, not the deans principals, counselors, etc). Also the consultants, "specialists", etc. are a HUGE waste.
Many of the items you mentioned (pencils, gym clothes, cheerleader uniforms, lunch, etc.) are paid for by the student (more specifically, the parents). My kids came home every other day needing money for something their school required them to have. They were always selling something (candy, cookies, candles, giftwrap, more candy, etc.) to raise money for this or that. There was pressure from the teachers to meet goals in sales of this crap.
The one or two dollar candy bars were fine, but the fancy brochures with all kinds of candles, cookie dough, etc. at prices of $11-$15 was rediculous and nearly impossible to sell.
There's plenty of waste that can be cut. Starting with administrative perks.