Panel advances bill to let school districts use reserves for construction

By Cy Ryan

Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 | 11:25 a.m.

CARSON CITY – On a party-line vote, the Assembly Government Affairs Committee approved a bill to allow school districts to use more money from their bond reserve accounts for construction and refurbishing older schools.

Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas and the committee chairwoman, said voters approved the bonds for construction and it should be used for that.

Gov. Brian Sandoval wanted to tap into the reserves to use it for school operations, a proposal opposed by Democrats.

The accounts contain enough money to pay off the principal and interest of one year of a school bond. It is kept to enable districts to cover the payment for the bond’s principal and interest if there is a downturn in tax collections.

The measure, Assembly Bill 183, would allow Clark and Washoe counties to lower their reserve to 25 percent and the rural counties to 50 percent. The Clark County School District has served notice it won’t use any of the money because the amount is dwindling and the account would be dry to 2013.

Sandoval had planned to use more than $400 million from the reserves of the districts for the operation of schools.

Democrats suggest there is less than $100 million available. Democrats also say the money would spark new construction and result in the hiring of more workers.

Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas, said the money was meant for school construction. “I want to see it go where the voters wanted it to go,” she said.

But Assembly members Lynn Stewart, R-Henderson, and John Ellison, R-Elko, both said it would leave a hole in the budget of the governor. Assemblyman Peter Livermore, R-Carson City, said he would rather see it go into classrooms than construction.

The bill now goes to the floor of the Assembly for a vote, likely sometime next week.