Washoe gas tax plan approved

CARSON CITY (AP) " The Nevada Assembly ignored Gov. Jim Gibbons' veto threat and voted 34-5 Friday for a bill to let Washoe County commissioners enact a voter-approved motor fuel tax increase.

SB201, already approved by the state Senate, now goes to Gibbons. Once he vetoes it, the bill will return to lawmakers for an override vote that requires a two-thirds' majority vote in both the Senate and Assembly.

SB201 has been a key priority for county transportation officials counting on the money for critical road projects this summer they say could create up to 3,000 jobs.

Gibbons spokesman Dan Burns said the governor has misgivings about the wording of a November advisory ballot question that led to SB201. The question was approved by 55 percent of voters, but Burns said it did not contain the word "tax" and instead asked if local officials should seek "necessary additional funding for transportation projects" from the Legislature.

The sample ballot said officials would seek legislation allowing the county commission to increase the motor fuel tax by a rate equal to the inflation of construction costs. If enacted, the proceeds would finance $250 million in bonds for transportation projects throughout Washoe County.

Gibbons, who has vowed not to raise taxes, has said he won't stand in the way of voter-approved tax increases and included a voter-approved hotel room tax increase in his budget, but Burns said the governor doesn't consider the gas tax hike to be "voter approved."