Budget office delivers first budget corrections

Nevada's budget office has delivered the first in a series of budget corrections to the Legislature - including one that would add at least $7 million to the public schools budget.

Deputy Budget Director Andrew Clinger told the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday analysts overlooked the rising costs of electricity and natural gas in calculating the amount needed for public schools in the proposed budget.

He said it will cost $6.94 million over the coming two years to account for estimated inflation of 4 percent each year for electricity and 8 percent for gas.

The amount, however, may end up significantly higher according to Assembly Fiscal Analyst Mark Stevens.

He told the committee he believes the total will be more than $8.2 million.

Clinger also said the governor's office should have recommended six additional employees for the Veteran's Affairs Commission. He said it will take $478,354 over the biennium to add two veterans service officers, two administrative assistants and two grounds equipment operators.

Budget Director Perry Comeaux said there are "maybe another half dozen items we need to adjust."

The Nevada Department of Transportation budget may have the same problem as the schools budget - no utility adjustment. And there are reports the same thing happened in the Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation.

Comeaux said another significant adjustment will be adding 18 correctional positions to the prison system. With the growth of Nevada's prison population, the Department of Corrections this year canceled contracts it had with Washington State and Wyoming to house some of their inmates.

"We forgot that the positions for those units were paid for by the contract and should have been added to the budget," Comeaux said.

He said, thankfully, some of the other corrections his office is looking at will reduce costs instead of increasing them.

n Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or at 687-8750.