Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

SUN EDITORIAL:

Improving government

Home rule should be used to help the state, not simply solve the budget

Under budget plans being considered in Carson City, local governments — counties in particular — would take a significant hit.

As David McGrath Schwartz reported in Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun, Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget would cost counties $325 million. Under his plan, the state would take local tax revenues and saddle counties with what are currently state responsibilities.

To make up for that, Sandoval has offered the counties a measure of home rule, which would give them more authority — including the ability to raise taxes.

Cities and counties in the state have long argued for home rule, but they aren’t sold on Sandoval’s plan — understandably so. This is a political sleight of hand.

By offering home rule, Sandoval is tacitly admitting that the state needs more money to provide services, and that means the counties would have to raise taxes. Sandoval won’t raise the money himself because of his campaign pledge to not raise taxes, yet he’s willing to shirk the state’s responsibilities and let the local governments do the dirty work.

There’s not much the local governments can do. The Nevada Constitution essentially sets up a parent-child relationship between the state and local governments, and the state dictates what local governments can and cannot do. Local governments are at the mercy of the state, and that’s not right. For example:

• In 2009, the Legislature considered taking part of the property tax revenues that go to Clark and Washoe counties. Clark County officials proposed the state instead take money from a different fund. The state took both.

• Local governments — Clark County, particularly — have been attacked for giving generous contracts to employee unions. But as Schwartz reported, the Legislature sets the rules for collective bargaining by which local governments must abide. And that can result in big contracts. Of course, the state doesn’t deal with that — the Legislature hasn’t given collective bargaining rights to state workers.

• A few years ago, Clark County found out it couldn’t tow illegally parked cars from its own lot because it didn’t have that specific authority. It had to go to the state for permission.

Examples like these show why home rule is needed. If the governor really wants to support home rule, this would be a good time to have a serious discussion about it. Dale Erquiaga, Sandoval’s senior adviser, said the governor’s budget plan would hand county governments services that they should provide. But he said counties aren’t doing their part.

“They’re not coming to the governor with a plan. Instead, they’re coming and saying, ‘It can’t be done. We can’t live with this change,’ ” Erquiaga said. “That’s not an acceptable answer.”

But it’s not incumbent on the counties to bail out the state. And the governor is only offering home rule as a way to try to help solve the state budget shortfall. It’s no wonder local governments aren’t embracing Sandoval’s plan. The state holds all of the cards, and there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t come back in the future and raid local coffers again — all while letting local governments take the blame for raising taxes.

The Legislature should take up the issue of home rule and deal with it seriously. Local governments should have more authority — they are closest to the citizens and can be the most responsive. There should be a cooperative effort to find efficiencies and determine where services best fit, either in local or state hands. Instead of dumping responsibilities on local governments without much thought, state officials should see this as an opportunity to make government better.

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