We would like to see the Legislature’s proposed budget completed by early and presented to the public for comment. The Governor has presented his, you have said you are not going to pass the Governor’s Budget, so we would like to be able to comment and take appropriate action on your proposed budget before the end of session.
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The Governor has provided a basis for meeting the deficit that we are all faced with. Unfortunately, the legislature has not provided any alternatives and we are quickly running out of time. My family is disappointed that there is a lack of vision in the legislature. We agree with the Governor’s view of what is needed.
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I have to live within my means and I think the state should too.
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Use Contracted Landscape Businesses |
It is ultra simple. Outsource stuff like landscaping and save hundreds of millions in retirement benefits, salaries, vehicles, vehicle maintenance, insurance, and equipment. The average landscaper might work 3 total hours a day at a snail’s pace.
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Secretarial Pool for Legislators |
What happened to the Legislative Secretarial Pool that was used in the past? Not long ago the Legislature used a secretarial pool instead of hiring hundreds of secretaries and other employees as they do now. With times being so tough for taxpayers, it would make sense for the Legislature to go back to having fewer staff and using a secretarial pool. As an alternative, each legislator should pay for secretarial services from their campaign funds.
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There must be some way for the state to consolidate services, like law enforcement and fire protection, within local governments and between local governments. Also, school districts and colleges could share the use of their buildings and facilities with state and local governments on the days or hours when there is no school or college for things like homeless shelters or the like.
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Shooting Up Excess Ammunition |
Due to many factors, ammunition is incredibly expensive. Presently, law enforcement purchases ammunition in bulk for use during a fiscal year. At the end of the year, they shoot any remaining ammunition under the guise of “reliability.” There is no reason to do this because ammunition, when properly stored, will last for decades (independently verifiable). The only ammunition that should be “shot up” is what is needed for qualification and training. The existing practices of “shooting up” whatever ammunition is left over at the end of the fiscal year is a waste of taxpayer money.
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The budget should not be balanced in a way that hits one entity harder than others. So, why not have everyone share equally—why not increase the sales tax from the current rate up to 2 percent higher, everyone would then contribute to the services we all need and want and no one group is paying the price. I am more than willing to take the 6 percent pay cut, the loss of longevity pay, and the holding off of step increases until things improve and they will improve. Don’t punish those who have already retired and have no means of going back into the work force. Another suggestion, add back in the sales tax on private party vehicle sales. If I purchase a used car from a dealer, I pay sales tax, if I go to a second hand store, I pay sales tax, if I go to a flea market, I pay sales tax, why not on a used vehicle?
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How about collecting the unclaimed money from the State Treasurer’s Office that is due to the State of Nevada. In just 3 pages of the 10 listed, there was over $14,000 due to the State. Not much, but every little bit helps!
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Suggestions for getting out of our current financial shortfall include, but not limited to: raising the gaming tax—all these corporations pay much higher percentages in all other states, a 1-2 percent increase would not be out of line. Banking has never paid their fair share in Nevada; they come and incorporate here because it’s cheap and easy, use our roads, schools, and hospitals, but are under taxed. Mining has taken advantage of an incredible deal in Nevada for almost 150 years. It’s time we get our fair share of royalties on our very limited natural resources. These industries account for billions of dollars in revenue and it’s time Nevada got a fair portion to pay for our hospitals, roads, and schools.
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I suggest you have a state lottery to fund education. I do not gamble in casinos or stores, but I would buy lottery tickets and do so when I go to Arizona and California.
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Consider recycling the plastic bottles from the prisons to assist in recouping costs for programs and transportation of the inmates. Also, how about implementing a carpool system for the correctional officers from Fernley to rural prisons, i.e., Lovelock and Ely? You use 11 passenger vans for transporting inmates. Well if you do the math, you can actually make a profit of approximately $30k-$50k a year, per van, per prison! Those numbers include the cost of maintenance and gas at the rate of $4 per gallon. This would help the officers who have to travel from Carson City and Reno to work in Lovelock and Ely.
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I ask that funding for the Nevada Arts Council not be cut or reduced from the state budget. The arts are so very important for quality of life and they also create and support jobs. The National Endowment for the Arts was included in the stimulus package for a reason and I would hope that arts funding would continue in our state. Thank you for all of the hard work you are doing to keep our state fiscally healthy. I know the task is not an easy one, but please don’t make the mistake of assuming that the arts are not needed for a healthy economy.
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The State should stop competing with private business. As an example, the State Motor Pool in Las Vegas competes with the rental car companies that provide the same service at lower costs to State agencies. The rental car companies also generate tax revenue for the State. The State Motor Pool is an example of fiscal waste that needs to go in our current budget crisis.
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Look at all the bail bondsmen and see the millions they make and the fancy houses, expensive ads, and know about how much they make. Why not take a lesson from Oregon where the state has no bail bondsmen and the state takes 10 percent of the posted bail and keeps the profit? Ask anyone in Oregon and they will tell you that system for bail is superior to welfare for bail bondsmen.
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We can’t count on gaming or mining to get us back on our feet so what have we got that would secure Nevada’s revenue? We have Yucca Mountain.
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Here is a thought, find a way to pay for the budget. Don’t lay it on the backs of your teachers and public employees. If you must take 6.5 percent for two years why don’t you be fair and take it from each and every tax payer?
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Has the option of a 15 percent across the board reduction in spending been mentioned as an option? It seems to me that we are all in this together. We should all do our part to get out of this mess. I think we all need to sacrifice and not bleed higher education for all of the monies.
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I just read in the Reno paper that significant cuts are being proposed in Rural Regional Centers budget, keeping SRC flat and giving Las Vegas large increases. This just doesn’t make sense. The people in the rural areas struggle in so many ways as it is and you are going to increase funding to Las Vegas?
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I’m pretty sure that a picture of the Legislature the other night on TV showed LARGE fresh bouquets of flowers through the room. That is definitely a cost that needs to be eliminated especially if that expense is continued throughout the legislative session.
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Governor Gibbons Doing Great |
First, I think that Governor Gibbons is doing a Great job. We need to live within our means and with the budget cuts it gives everyone in the state a chance to clean house. We all know that there is a lot of waste in the government. Second, I think we really do need to look at Yucca Mountain as a means to adding more revenue to the state.
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Closure of Nevada State Prison |
Please allow the Department of Corrections to close the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. It is a disgrace and legal liability to operate such an outdated corrections facility. It is a great site for movies on civil war prisons and an argument can certainly be made for historical preservation. But NSP is not cost-effective or safe for housing inmates, or protecting workers and visitors. Moreover, the Las Vegas area needs more prison beds, not Carson City. Although continued funding for the conservation camps in the Carson City area and other rural areas seems reasonable, continuing to operate NSP does not. If NSP is closed, it is very important to make every effort to assist the current employees to transfer to other state jobs or to offer them early retirement incentives. By all objective indicators, closing NSP makes the most fiscal and humanitarian sense.
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If the only two current growth industries in Nevada are health care and government and the largest employers in Nevada are cutting salaries by 10 and 15 percent (not to mention employer contributions to 401K plans) as well as hourly employees work hours. The “Official” unemployment rate in Nevada in December was 9.1 percent.
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Don’t raise taxes, stop raising “fees,” and let’s all learn to live frugally. Any more taxes and fees on the working families are only going to cause more hardship and even more of a spending freeze by the “consumer.” My water bill just went up 100 percent, as you can see by checking with the Public Utility Commission. That is the second rate increase in less than a year. We’ve stopped spending, which means the ‘governments’ get less tax revenue. You can’t start fixing this mess by raising our cost of living; you need to start by giving the poor working consumer relief!!!
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I would like to see something similar to what GM and Chrysler are doing; urge employees to retire early. This will cost, initially more, but within a year, will save the State much needed revenue.
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I don’t feel that the State employees should have to pay for this budget crisis. I see a lot of areas that we can increase prices. First, close Reno’s Galletti office on Saturdays. We could start charging for our handbooks. Why not charge for the driving and written tests? We also have drive schools come and pick up a box of driver handbooks. They could up the charges for dealer license. We could up the fee for vehicle identification number inspections. We also have a person that goes out to tow companies and inspects vehicles and we do not charge. The State employees should not have to pay for the whole state. I also think that morale will drop if our pay drops. If anything, give the employees a day off like California is doing, at least they can be with their families.
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Gaming and Mining a Source for Revenue |
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From every article I have read gaming and mining are not paying their fair share. It’s time for that to come to an end! The governor made a campaign promise during different economic times that was shortsighted. He needs to accept that and find funding to support state services. If he continues on his current course it is the responsibility of the legislators to take control. The governor also made a campaign promise to support education, among many other things, but those have long been cast aside. Now it’s time to cast aside “No new taxes!”
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The Budget and Rural Areas |
"I do not have to talks about how devastating some things are, however, I think that every proposed cut to a rural area should include a fiscal note that examines the economic multiplier effect, in this case in the negative.
Any good economist will tell you that a healthy community will turn its money over 7 times before letting it go.
So the rural closures are 7x more devasting than the figure on the paper.
Seems that office space is an issue and it would also seem that property owners could be offered a property tax rebate to keep the personnel there sans rent. It's not like there is a long list of prospective tenants and occupation is always better for a building's health. If it is a state-owned facility, all the better........................delayed maintenance due to no occupancy will mean big bucks in the future. There can be creative joint occupancy and scheduling.by several agencies in one place, particularly those who have itinerant services.
I was pretty much impaled for this in the past, but there may be some value in looking at some services like psychiatry to be shared between state and tribes. Neither can "afford" such personnel stand alone, but shared might be an option.
Trying to be brief and concise."
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"I think a state lottery would benefit our state greatly. California and Texas have generated a lot of money for education from their lottery systems. This would reduce education reductions or maybe even increase the amount of funding available for education."
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"PLEASE do not cut the Commission on Tourism Budget. Any of you who have studied marketing would understand the importance of INCREASING marketing efforts during tough economic times. Changing some directions and using dollars as wisely as possible are important things to consider. But combining Tourism with Economic Development is a drastic error, as well as a PERMANENT fix to a temporary problem. This short sided proposal will hurt us in the smaller cities of Nevada. We rely on our state's efforts to promote us. Reno has the RSCVA and Las Vegas has their LVCVA which do an excellent job of promoting the 2 biggest cities. We really need state promotions to help us to continue to strengthen and diversify the economy of our other cities. We need this. We need the legislature. Please do not let us down. We are counting on you. Please!"
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"Why have there been no cut backs regarding the printing in Spanish? It would save time=money and resources?"
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"Overrun of Quantities In the past and currently still happening it is a common and expected practice by contractors to blatantly overrun quantities. Items such as Type 2 C dense grade paving mixtures and open grade paving up to but not exceeding ten percent of plan quantities were common because at the ten percent mark an R.E. must write a letter of justification for the overrun. The contractor viewed this as free money to be had and would purposely overrun to get this money. Due to the recent oil shortages, on contract 3348, the State and the Contractor entered into a cost sharing basis in order to complete the project. I see this as a great regulator of contractors purposefully overrunning quantities; not because it needs to be overrun in order to finish the project, but to "sell mix". On our current contract, due to the high price of asphaltic oils, it is not profitable for the contractor to overrun paving quantities so it has been greatly noted their unwillingness to overrun to meet this ten percent bench mark as there is no profit in doing so. Perhaps also instead of having a ten percent bench mark before an R.E. must write a letter of justification it should be lowered to five or less percent. Yes I will agree that this may create more paper work at times for the R.E.s but I think in the long run it will save the State money and keep contract expenditures close to bid quantities. For instance say a contractor is on force account and is placing shoulder material along a stretch of paving and the slope is determined to be a six percent safety slope. It is very easy for the contractor to run the toe of slope out and crowd the slope closer to five percent in order to overrun the cubic yards placed and as long as it does not exceed the ten percent benchmark it is accepted and paid for but was totally unneeded. So not only does the State pay for the overrun but also gets nailed for the additional work incurred at force account rates (This happens all the time). I feel it would be in the best interests of the state to more closely observe all pay quantity items that are affected by these unscrupulous practices and treat them in a manner as to dissuade any further attempts by contractors to attempt unwarranted overrun of quantities on NDOT projects."
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"I feel that the SAGE group is mostly concerned with saving large companies in Nevada money on taxes, much like the "Nevada Taxpayers' Association". The governor put out a call for members of the business and executive officer communities, only, in Nevada, to form SAGE. SAGE has, naturally, chosen to economize at the expense of the employees of the State of Nevada. I have several alternative suggestions: 1. Get rid of the governor's airplane. He can conduct state business on the telephone. He doesn't need to fly to Las Vegas every week, for whatever reasons. 2. Include the educational personnel in any cuts necessary for the state's survival. They insisted, years ago, that their pay raises be tied to state employees' pay raises, over the objections of state employees. The educators whined until they were allowed to exchange their expensive health insurance program for the PEBP health insurance. Now that the crunch has come, why aren't they clamoring to share state employees' hardships? They have been more than willing to participate in our benefits. They are publicly funded, so why shouldn't they share the pain of other publicly funded entities? 3. Cut all funding for illegal immigrants. Allow only emergency medical care prior to deportation. "
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"Here's a good start towards solving the shortage of operating funds and complying with the statutes which require fair and equitable tax assessment. There are 8 parcels of land along Paradise Road that were purchased for a total of 14 million dollars, and they are now appraised at such a ridiculously low figure by the County Assessor that the total annual property tax for all 8 of the parcels is a paltry $108.12. That's $108.12 total property tax on 14 million dollars worth of prime Las Vegas property adjacent to a golf course; those parcels are 162-16-510-023 through 030. These are adjacent to a golf course, and the Assessor has labeled the parcels as "Deferred - golf course or agriculture." Some of those parcels even have buildings, but the assessor's web site shows no improvements on those parcels. There are a large number of other parcels in that same situation, i.e., extreme undervaluation for tax purposes. Where's the justice...my little .13 acre parcel and residence, which cost about $300,000, has a property tax assessment of about three-thousand dollars!"
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"Currently NDOC has a number of minimum security inmates, most of these inmates are nonviolent offenders and have served time for DUI and Drug related offense, and have been incarcerated for 2 or more years. These Inmates should be on a home residential confinement program and receiving drug or alcohol treatment. These Inmates can work and pay for there home residential confinement and become productive taxpayers in our state. This would free up prison beds for VIOLENT OFFENDERS and save the state a whole lot of the THE TAX PAYERS MONEY. This is a matter that should be looked at seriously. Why has this AB510 Bill taken so long to get the Inmates @ NDOC there credits towards there sentence?"
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"Assess or increase administrative fees issued to motorists by Nevada Highway Patrol. This fee should go to the state, not the county."
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"I recommend that NSP be slowly closed down through attrition. First, reduce hiring, transfers and promotions into the Carson City area. Use Officers from NSP to immediately fill ALL vacant positions at NNCC and WSCC. That should move a lot of Officers and Senior Officers and one Lieutenant out of NSP right away. As this happens, NSP can shut down the older and most cost ineffective units. As vacancies occur in Carson City, Officers and staff from NSP will be used to fill those positions until NSP is empty. This way, NNCC and WSCC can be fully staffed right away and that will cut down on a lot of overtime costs and security issues. With enough Officers leaving, NSP can shut down their most expensive unit right away. No one gets laid off and NSP can close slowly over time and reduce operating costs right out of the gate. Also, it may be worth while to leave the upper section of NSP open and convert it to a minimum custody camp. It could then be operated by minimal staff and the prison industries programs there can continue to function. This camp could be managed by WSCC, which is right next door. The older section of NSP which would no longer be used for correctional can be converted to a museum or "Bed and Breakfast" of the most unique type. That way, revenue can be generated and that money can be used to operate the NSP and preserve its historical place in Nevada."
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"I have recently submitted a proposal to the Legislative Commission Subcommittee to Study Transportation Issues to increase revenue by millions of dollars each year. Omitted from the proposal were these issues due to time constraints; 1. By registering, licensing and insuring motorbikes that fall in the ‘under 50cc. category the state could prevent habitual DUI offenders from operating these type of vehicle. These vehicles have long been the choice for people that have lost their license due to traffic tickets or DUI. Although these vehicles represent a small portion of the motorcycle population, at present they are going unregistered and unlicensed which equates to money that the state could be collecting. I don’t have the figures as to how many registrations this covers but the bikes are increasing in popularity. 2. By requiring all operators of any licensed motorcycle to receive accreditation from a Nevada State Safety Course for Motorcycles prior to obtaining an endorsement. This State safety Course is already provided for in the NRS at the fee of $100 plus $5 for the certificate. This concept would not only increase the States revenue but would satisfy the requirement of the Federal Government for an annual increased safety programs for dispersal of federal highway money. 3. Amend the current laws that restricts all motorcycle riders from deciding for themselves if they want to ware a helmet or not and make Nevada more motorcycle friendly. This law is vague and is un-enforceable due to lack of standards for approved headgear and it makes riders from surrounding states avoid Nevada. The increase in tourism alone would be in the millions of dollars. 4. Allow motorcycles ‘vanity plates’ for organizations like the American Legion, Decorated Military and special interest groups. Which has already been approved by the State. These plates are already being produced in the form of handicapped plates and would require little change to the existing set up. Specialized plates could be sold to the public at special prices. By looking at increased revenue without increasing taxes the public get what we want and by increasing options for license plates to express individual taste the State gets increased revenue."
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Suggestion to save the state money |
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"All too often Agency or Department Heads make budgetary cuts without any input from subordinates. I realize that is part of the reason for allowing this page so state employees can offer suggestions anonymously without fear of reprisal. There is a "Secret Witness" hot line for people to give information to law enforcement and have their identity protected by assigning them a number. When there is prosecution a reward may be given to whoever provided the helpful information. It would seem a good idea to create such a hot line or web page, such as this, where a person is assigned an anonymous number. If their suggestion saves the state money, they should receive a reward of 5% of the money their idea saves the state once it is implemented. This would be an incentive for many to come forward with money saving ideas. I was only recently made award of this website. It would be a great public service to post notice in the newspapers on a regular basis about this link. I believe more would come forward with suggestions."
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An idea to save $20 million |
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"We have over 1,400 inmates waiting in County to come to NDOC. I have been told NDOC is paying the county over $80/day per inmate to house them!! That comes to $40,880,000 a year!! If we take these inmates in and it only costs.. say an estimate of $40/day to house them that will be over $20 MILLION dollars a year NDOC will save!! Has anyone brought this to the attention of the legislatures or the Prisons Board? Please correct me if I'm wrong.. but I think I'm more confused than Masto is as to what Skolnik is doing."
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"The Kinkead Building needs to be demolished!!! Every day I watch maintenance being done on a building that is condemned. The lawn looks nicer then the buildings around it that have employees in them. When it snows, the parking lot is plowed first. I even recently watched them paint a large crack on the outside. It has got to be cheaper to stop paying these kinds of expenses and knock it down."
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"Seems to me that one of the draws of living here is no state taxes but the Gov. Gibbon is appears to be suggesting this. Again the old argument "A LOTTERY" the amount of money that could be collected by a lottery would support education and a large amount of the budget cuts that are now being proposed."
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"I am a state employee and along with all of my fellow co workers, we do not feel the states financial crisis is our fault so why would we be singled out for a pay cut, especially in a time of crisis. Why is it so difficult to place a tax that all residents of Nevada can live with? By spreading it out, the impact on families would hardly be noticeable. Charge a huge fee for dumping the waste at Yucca Mountain. Waste is already being dumped there so make them pay highly for it."
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Suggestions concerning budget |
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"Hello, Below are some suggestions to help save money during the budget crisis: • PEBP – change the family plan where there is an additional cost for each child that is covered rather than the current method of one child being the same cost as five children. • Change the “spend it or lose it” method of purchasing. I have seen thousands of dollars spent on items that were not really needed just so the agency does not lose that money and have their budgets decreased the next year. • Have a (IT) business analyst of sorts approve all purchases over a certain dollar amount. I have seen many items purchased for use by different offices and that item did not really meet the needs of that office. The money was simply spent so they did not lose it next year. • Offer early buy outs to get people to retire. There are many people within a few years of retirement that are just buying time at this point and not providing a lot of value to the agency, the state of the people of Nevada. • Cut all overtime. I would rather lose OT than have my base salary cut. • Landscaping – daily there are multiple men working on the capital grounds doing upkeep such as raking leaves. Perhaps reduce the number of days that landscaping is done on the capital grounds. • High education – put more focus developing online classes. This would reduce the need for the various campuses across the state and hopefully allow for less use of some of the space in Las Vegas/Reno. This would also allow for students across the state to attend various classes and not be held back by location. • Consolidate some of the rural offices. It seems some agencies have office space in the rural towns. Office sharing between agencies could hopefully reduce the need for some office space and allow for better services to the public. • As suggested by the Sage commission, move to a four 10 hour work week, closing offices on Fridays. • Do away with decorating the capital grounds and mansion during holidays, at least until the budget crisis is over. Ultimately, my personal belief is that we need a state income tax to overcome the budget crisis. Although I don't like the idea of a state income tax, it is the only way to fairly distribute the burden among all Nevadans, not just a few. Thank you for your time an consideration. Please feel free to email me should you have any questions."
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"Instead of looking for what to cut... how about looking how to make more... there is one sure fire way to increase income to the State of Nevada... there are more than 100 million gay and lesbian people in this world... if Nevada would legalize same-sex marriage... can you imagine the amount of money we would earn on marriage licenses? Not to mention the millions more we would make on the boost of tourism? I can’t imagine a better place for any couple to go to get married! Instead of being worried about how someone else’s private choices in life would somehow damage your moral compass… let think logically! HOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY… If we put half the effort into steering our moral compass in the direction of school aged children… THE WHOLE STATE WOULD BE BETTER OFF! Cashing in on something that is going to be inevitable down the road… will only prove what a SMART state we are! Let’s get off our moral high ground… and do something positive to BOOST our budget… SAVE the education of Nevada's children!"
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