Supplemental funding and one-shots top $425M in state budget

The governor’s finance office says there are a total of 117 one-shot items and supplemental funding requests in the proposed budget totaling $425.6 million.

The 13 supplemental bill drafts are needed to make different budgets within the current biennium whole since what lawmakers and the governor approved in the 2017 Legislature didn’t cover the actual costs.

Altogether, they total $180.1 million but fully two-thirds of that, a bit more than $130 million, is to cover the cost of Medicaid. Enrollment in that program dramatically exceeded projections over the past two years.

The good news for the state is $115.6 million of that total is federal money and just $14.5 million will come from the General Fund.

The next largest chunk of supplemental funding is to cover the $36.49 million the state owes Nevada’s school districts for enrollment that, especially in Clark County, exceeded projections. By statute, the state guarantees the per pupil K-12 education funding and is required to make up the difference. That money all comes out of the General Fund.

After those two amounts, the next largest supplemental is $9.6 million to cover the unanticipated shortfall in firefighting costs over the past budget cycle.

The 104 one-shots are appropriations and authorizations for special projects already included in the governor’s recommended budget. Many of them are information technology projects and vehicle purchases.

Altogether, they total $240.99 million.

The largest number of items and the largest total dollar amount is for 27 separate information technology projects — $141.66 million.

The biggest projects on that list are the $50 million replacement of the state’s 20-year-old human resources and financial system and the $50.1 million replacement of the welfare child support enforcement system (formerly known as NOMADS).

The human resources/financial administration system will cost the General Fund $40.5 million with the rest coming from highway funds.

The child support system will be paid two-thirds by fees and other collections with $16.8 million in General Fund dollars. In addition, there is another $96,738 in computer hardware and software to accompany that new system.

Those aren’t the only significant IT projects on the list. The Gaming Control Board is seeking $7.2 million to replace the ancient computer system there that’s based on the 40-year-old COBOL programming language. In addition, Public Safety is seeking $15.45 million to replace the Nevada Criminal Justice Information System.

The next largest category is replacement and addition of cars, trucks and specialized vehicles the state needs — a total of $28.5 million over the biennium.

The largest on that list is $13.28 million to replace NHP patrol vehicles. Corrections, Forestry, State Parks, Water Resources and other agencies also have vehicle replacement requests.

There are also a couple of requests for special vehicles. Forestry wants $4.5 million to replace a helicopter and Buildings and Grounds wants to buy a $190,500 Snow Cat so crews can get to Marlette Lake during the winter. The Marlette Lake water system provides all of Virginia City’s water as well as augmenting Carson City’s supply.

The final two items on the one-shot list are the $7.5 million annual cost analysts believe will be needed to implement and cover Marsy’s Law, the voter approved victims rights amendment to the constitution. State analysts say the biennial total of $15 million is just a guess, that actual costs could be significantly higher or lower.