Lawmakers trying to determine which of eight bidders to hire for their major tax and revenue study made Moody's Analytics their top choice for the contract Thursday.
All eight members of the panel headed by Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, named the company their top choice.
But they decided to leave the final decision to the whole committee when it meets in about two weeks and also sent three other bids forward to consider - including the Center for Regional Studies at UNR which submitted by far the most expensive bid. At $909,861, the UNR bid was more than three times the $253,000 Moody's bid and several members of the panel described it as unaffordable.
In addition, Raggio said that despite the quality of the people who would do the study at UNR, picking them would open the final report to criticism since the campus is funded by state tax money.
"It could be seen as self-serving. I don't buy into that but I think we ought to remove them," he said.
That argument was amplified by Knight Allen, a Las Vegas resident who has been following state tax issues for years.
Emphasizing that he isn't questioning the integrity of the professionals at UNR, he said selecting them to do the study "will justifiably destroy the credibility of the report."
Moody's Analytics is headquartered in West Chester Pennsylvania.
The second ranked bid was submitted by Willdan Financial Services of Sacramento. Their total cost to do the study was just $153,205 but seven of the eight lawmakers on the panel ranked Willdan as their second or third top choice.
Four lawmakers ranked the Center for Regional Studies at UNR their third choice. But using a point system awarding three for first, two for second and one for third, UNR tied with Nevada Consultants Inc. of Las Vegas, which submitted a $500,000 bid for the contract.
Rather than eliminate one of them, the panel voted to send the top four to the full committee for a final decision.
The Board of Examiners earlier in the week recommended $500,000 for the study. The final amount will be decided by the Interim Finance Committee and Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes advised lawmakers they aren't bound by that recommendation. They can spend either less or more depending on which contractor they select.
Raggio said an objective study is needed before the state can address problems with its revenues but that it doesn't necessarily mean tax increases.
"Some people think if you study something you're going to raise taxes and that's not my purpose," he said.
Gov. Jim Gibbons opposed any funding for the study saying he doesn't believe Nevada's tax and revenue system is broken.
"We don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem," he said following the Board of Examiners vote.
Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.
