Mergers, program cuts recommended to trim state budget

By Cy Ryan

Friday, Oct. 29, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY — Merging agencies, shifting programs to local government and cutting benefits to low-income residents are among proposals to save millions of dollars as the state faces a financial crunch.

The fiscal staff of the Legislature on Thursday outlined more than 20 ideas for efficiencies and savings in the upcoming budget.

State agencies have produced initial budgets with 10 percent reductions.

The legislative financial division has additional suggestions the 2011 session might consider.

For example, the Legislature might consolidate the state Commission on Tourism with the Commission on Economic Development at a biennial savings of close to $400,000.

The state could save $10 million by eliminating 73 parole and probation officers who perform investigations for pre-sentence reports to district judges on convicted persons.

The assumption is that the district courts would absorb the costs, according to the budget report presented by fiscal analyst Mark Krmpotic.

The report to the Legislative Committee on Review of Base Budgets of State Agencies said the state might tighten the eligibility standards on senior citizens who receive property tax rebates.

It might want to give refunds only to seniors below the federal poverty level, the report said. About 77 percent of those who received refunds were above the poverty level, and changing qualifications could save $6 million over the next two fiscal years.

The state Department of Health and Human Services has recommended eliminating program services to 16,000 senior citizens at a savings of more than $12 million.

Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, expected to be head of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee in the 2011 Legislature, suggested examining the use of cell phones by state workers and whether the phones are needed in some cases.

Smith, D-Sparks, also said an examination will be made of state contracts with private consulting firms.

Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said a performance audit of the four-day work week in Utah showed the savings were “really overstated.” He said, “We must bear that in mind” when considering making changes in Nevada’s government.

State workers already are taking one unpaid furlough day off a month as a cost-cutting measure.

Another suggestion from the legislative staff was the elimination of the Family-to-Family program that helps parents with young children. That would save $2.4 million over the biennium and is also being recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Legislature might review the functions of the state fire marshal and shift some of those functions, such as arson investigation, building inspections and plan reviews, to local government, the report says. That could save $1.2 million a year.

An estimated $4 million to $6 million could be saved over the biennium by closing some prison honor camps or correctional centers. An increase in inmates has slowed, said the fiscal staff. It appears “the state could close multiple minimum-custody facilities without risk of running out of bed space for inmates,” the fiscal staff said.

Krmpotic said he did not want to single out any prison but mentioned Casa Grande Transitional Center in Las Vegas as one that could be shut down.

Howard Skolnik, director of the Department of Corrections, has recommended in his upcoming budget the closure of the Nevada State Prison in Carson City at an estimated savings of $9 million a year.