Carson City budget augmented by $38.2 million

Carson City’s 2017-2018 fiscal year budget was augmented by $38.2 million by the Board of Supervisors on Thursday.

The increase was due primarily to carryover of program costs from the prior years’ budget, and additional revenue, said Jason Link, chief financial officer.

The most important figure is $1.67 million in contingency, said Supervisor Lori Bagwell.

“It means we spent less and received more,” said Bagwell. “That’s the crux of what is on the worksheet.”

Link agreed.

“Correct. That’s the good news,” said Link.

The additional revenue came from several sources but mostly from higher than expected sales tax revenue. Carson City’s taxable sales continue to grow. In fiscal year 2017, taxable sales rose 9.7 percent to $1.1 billion. In October 2017, in the last month available in the new fiscal year, taxable sales jumped 15.2 percent to $96.1 million, primarily due to a 27.2 percent increase in car sales and 21 percent jump in sales of building materials.

The board also held a public hearing on issuing $4.87 million in bonds to pay for sewer projects. The bonds are general obligation bonds additionally secured by revenue from the recent 30 percent increase in stormwater rates.

The supervisors signed onto a $600,000 grant to address area brownfields. The grant has already been secured by Northern Nevada Development Authority (NNDA), who will manage and administer it, and will be shared with Douglas County.

The money will be used to assess and possibly clean up environmental issues on properties that would then be included in the NNDA’s certified site program. The program readies properties for sale, doing some of the legwork usually done by buyers, to make them more attractive for purchase.

The board chose its own annual committee assignments as well as appointed new citizen members for the Audit Committee, the Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee (RACC), and the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC).

The supervisors stuck to their existing appointments: Supervisor Karen Abowd remains Mayor Pro Tem and on the Cultural Commission and Nevadaworks council; Bagwell remains on the Audit Committee, and as an alternate on both the Nevada Association of Counties and Western Nevada Legislative Coalition; Supervisor John Barrette remains on RACC; Supervisor Brad Bonkowski stays on the RTC and WNLC; and Mayor Bob Crowell will continue to serve on NACo and WNLC.

The supervisors appointed Bepsy Strasburg to the Audit Committee, Michael Smith to RACC, and Randy Gaa and Charles Macquarie to RTC.

An item to appoint three members to the Parks and Recreation Commission was pulled from the agenda.

The board also approved the $596,940 purchase of a truck for the landfill; heard on first reading an ordinance prohibiting vinyl fences in the historic district unless waived by the Historic Resources Commission; and a presentation on the Carson River watershed from Edwin James, general manager, Carson Water Subconservancy.