County subsidizing business in north county

Comments in the July 13 Record-Courier indicate Max Baer is unhappy your newspaper hasn't printed enough of the cacophony of gushing praise he or someone orchestrated in the Nevada Appeal as well as The Record-Courier. I have a question for Max: Why should Valley residents care what admirers in Illinois or Kentucky or Georgia think of a new casino in Carson Valley? If the purpose is to demonstrate that a handful of letters from admirers will keep rooms full, that's quite a stretch.

Thousands of county residents might be excused for thinking that north county desert sagebrush which we moved to Douglas County to enjoy but which county management has defined as "blight" is being replaced with urban-style "blight" including garish noise, neon lights, illegal immigrants, inner-city housing and population density and related community problems, chain stores, casino-hotel, traffic congestion, car fumes and light pollution, which many moved to Douglas County to escape. Hard as it may seem to believe, some might even worry that a casino's overall contribution to county tax coffers will be exceeded once again by the cost of increased county services, causing county commissioners in the future to pick our pockets once again.

Some of us suspect Mr. Baer wouldn't even consider building his casino in Douglas County, if county commissioners hadn't spent millions of surplus dollars (my guesstimate $15 plus million and growing) developing infrastructure that should be paid by the developments. In effect, taxpayers have already subsidized that casino, it's why growth has not paid for itself. The 2008 draft of the capital improvement plan spends several more million dollars for infrastructure subsidizing north county development. Big George's approved north county "Georgetown" development near the casino also profits directly from county and redevelopment expenditures on infrastructure (remember, redevelopment spending is our money too). Or, in the twisted way my mind works, county government just transfers taxpayer money into developer pockets via a circuitous accounting route.

If you live in Minden you pay a water and sewage bill, but you also get to pay part of north county business and residential water and sewer bills as well because they got subsidized. Why do commissioners do that? And assess new utility fees and taxes on everybody to pay for it? Guess.

I for one would like to see both Mr. Baer and Big George submit a county financial impact plan over about 10 years setting out tax revenues their projects will generate against the costs of increased county services including additional county employees and their constantly escalating compensation. Set it out fund by fund, not in generalities. Include expenditures already made by the county and redevelopment agency on infrastructure. Infrastructure investment could (should) be recovered in connection fees, usage fees, and impact fees but pardon we doubting Thomases if we don't hold our collective breath. I suggested it to the county commission. The response was sort of, "huh?"

With a financial impact plan resident voters can demand county commissioners do performance reviews against it, hold it over their heads actually. What a novel concept for government, to be held accountable. County managers will protest that project financial performance analysis is just not done by government! Well, it's high time the county started acting like a business. Slapping us with new utility fees and taxes is an admission by county management of their own failure.

-- Jack Van Dien is a Gardnerville resident and retired executive.