Lawmakers consider 'ugly list'

Raising taxes isn't the only way to find revenue in an economic downturn, and Nevada lawmakers are looking at every source to fill a gaping budget hole. When taxes and service cuts are done, they'll still have the "ugly list."

There's a reason for the name. While most of the options on the list don't involve taxes, they're still unpalatable to a core group of legislators who are discussing revenue sources as the 2009 session winds down.

"We are definitely looking at sweeping any and all accounts," said Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka. "There's nothing that the county and local governments have that we're not looking at."

Goicoechea added there's no consensus among the core group members, who are considering ideas such as temporarily redirecting part of county taxes to the state. That measure, outlined in AB543, would redirect 4 cents for every $100 of property value to the state.

Lisa Genoli, lobbyist for Washoe County, says that counties have their own budget crisis and cannot afford to give up the money to the state.

"We don't have any room left to raise taxes, we're already at the cap," Genoli said. "The more money you take, the more difficult it is for us to balance our budget which is already hurting."

"We can't balance the budget on the backs of the counties, so I'm really struggling with that," Goicoechea said. "And some of the proposals aren't even close to being fair. We've already got the indigent accident fund, which left the counties ultra-exposed."

The indigent accident account is used to pay hospital costs for treating people who lack insurance and personal funds and are hurt in auto accidents.

By law, counties are required to provide services to indigents, and the indigent accident account has been used to offset some of the expenses incurred by hospitals, rather than sticking local governments with the medical bills.

During the lawmakers' 2008 special session, the state swept $25 million from the indigent accident account. The counties may be hit again if legislators follow Gov. Jim Gibbons' recommendation to tap the fund again to save the state $50 million.

Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, said that the core group also is considering taking Medicaid money that was "freed up" because of federal stimulus dollars and reverting it to the state general fund. Out of about $250 million in "freed-up" funds, about $150 million remains.

"We've been brainstorming trying to figure out what revenue streams exist, and what reallocations can do," said Gansert. "And so that's how that list came up " what's out there that exists, and is it possible to reallocate without injuring the local entity?"

Gansert said she also hopes that the core group will re-examine some of the add-backs to the governor's budget that have been made by lawmakers.

The full extent of the "ugly list" hasn't been disclosed.

"There's a variety of things," Goicoechea said. "There's other ideas on there that other people have brought up, but I don't know that we'll do any of them, to tell you the truth."

A look at the measures passed during the 2008 special session may give an indication of bills to come.

At that time, the state moved millions of dollars into the general fund from accounts dealing with Millennium Scholarships, low-income housing, higher education, construction, tourism, economic development and victims of silicosis and asbestos-related diseases. That's besides the $25 million it swept from the indigent accident fund.

Another measure redirected money from federal land leases, usually distributed to states and counties, to the state.

Some lawmakers say there's nothing major on the "ugly list" yet.

"Most of that is just little fees," Senate Taxation Chairman Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said. "There's nothing big on that list."