State money grab unfair to Clark County

The Review-Journal’s June 17 editorial, “Money fight,” raises some interesting points that need to be addressed in more detail.

The editorial indicates that Clark County wants to avoid further budget cuts that would otherwise be needed to address our $42 million budget deficit, and this is the primary reason why we filed suit against the state of Nevada. The suit is intended to recover $102.5 million that was diverted to the state in 2009, roughly half of which came from the county general fund. The editorial goes on to state that the suit will provide the county an infusion of cash to prop up our operations, and instead of seeking more money the county should figure out how to spend less.

After seven months of negotiations with the state over settlement terms that would have no impact on the state general fund, the county felt as if we had no choice but to file suit to recover property tax revenues. What was not acknowledged in the editorial is how patently unfair it was to the 2 million residents of Clark County that their tax dollars were sent to the state while the residents of 15 other counties in the state were spared from such a measure. As a result, Clark County residents made sacrifices that residents in other parts of the state didn’t have to make.

The county’s suit to recover local tax dollars improperly diverted to the state was driven by our desire to address this inequity as opposed to any perceived unwillingness to make further cuts.

The reality is that the county will continue to reduce our budget deficit next fiscal year, just as we have over the past several years. I take great pride in knowing that when the recession began in 2008, the Clark County responded quickly and aggressively with a series difficult budget-cutting measures. As a result, today the county’s actual general fund expenditure levels are $230 million, or 16 percent, less compared to expenditure levels in 2008.

I’d say we have done an excellent job of figuring out how to spend less money.

Don Burnette

Las Vegas

The writer is Clark County manager.