Assembly government affairs tightens Eureka schools bill

SB48 is designed to let Eureka School officials set aside money in their budget when the net proceeds of mines' tax is doing well so that they can cover the lean years when the mines' tax drops off - as it has for the past two years.

Nevada School Districts representative Henry Etchemendy said the bill is drafted so that only Eureka School District would be able to use it. He asked that the bill be amended so that it would apply to those rural school districts that get more than 25 percent of their funding from the mines' tax. No other county even comes close to 25 percent, while Eureka gets 35 percent from mines.

The bill would allow up to 30 percent of the school district's budget to be set aside in a fund that can't be considered for other uses - including teacher salaries.

But the measure drew opposition from the Nevada State Teachers Association, which presented an amendment to Government Affairs Chairman Doug Bache, D-Las Vegas, cutting the size of the stabilization fund to 15 percent. Bache, a teacher, supported the amendment.

Etchemendy said after the hearing he believes the teachers' association is "cutting off their nose despite their face."

He said Eureka County schools had to cut back several positions this year and is considering another 10 next year because dropping mines' revenues have left them without enough funding.

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