Top headlines from the Board of County Commissioners meeting

Commissioners approve budget, Barracuda Championship and ballot question

Reno, Nev. May 22, 2018. The following report highlights several important agenda items from the Washoe County Board of Commissioners meeting.

1. Board of County Commissioners approve final fiscal year 2019 budget. Commissioners heard a presentation on the recommended final FY2019 budget, which included a guarded outlook, C-Tax repayment and achieving a balanced General Fund budget with a $1.2 million one-time use of fund balance.

The total Washoe County budget for all funds is $659 million. However, the demands and costs to provide county services to the community are also increasing and outpacing the county’s revenue growth.

The FY2019 budget will be impacted by a one-time C-Tax refund, estimated at $4.6 million, due to an overpayment from a corporate taxpayer. In addition, property taxes have taken more than a decade to recover from the economic downturn.  The abated amount of property tax revenue, which represents property tax revenue not received by Washoe County for FY2019, totals over $24 million.

Final budget recommendations for long-term balance of the General Fund include county departments maintaining existing budgets, as no new revenue is anticipated to be available in FY2019. Departments were tasked with prioritizing and reallocating resources from existing budgets to fund needs. In addition, Washoe County continues to share one of the highest bond-ratings, a AA rating, in Northern Nevada.

The Board of County Commissioners approved the final FY2019 budget which is mandated to be submitted to the State of Nevada by June 1, 2018.

2. Commissioners approve General Election ballot question and committees.  Commissioners approved submission of an advisory question on the November 2018 general election ballot regarding a property tax increase in the amount of $0.0248 per $100 of assessed value to fund a Truckee River Flood Control Project. Any recommendations of an increase must be submitted through the Board of County Commissioners, per legislative requirements from AB375.

As a result of the ballot question, the Board of County Commissioners along with the Registrar of Voters, must appoint two committees to prepare arguments advocating or opposing the ballot question. Community members that applied to participate on the committees in support of the ballot question were Dave Aiazzi, George Robinson and Sonny Newman. Community members that applied to participate on the committees in opposition of the ballot question were Jeffrey Church and Art O’Connor. Commissioners approved the staff recommendation to appoint community members to serve on a ballot question committee.

3. Board and Commission Re-Appointments. Commissioners approved the following re-appointments for various Boards & Commissions:

• Kristina Hill, re-appointment to the Board of Adjustment to represent Commission District 1 to serve from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022.
• Larry Chesney and Philip Horan, re-appointment to the Washoe County Planning Commission to serve from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022.

4. Commissioners approve business license permit for Barracuda Golf Championship. Commissioners unanimously approved the business license application for the Reno-Tahoe Open Foundation for the Barracuda Championship 2018 golf tournament. The Barracuda Championship is in its 20^th year and will be held at the Montreux Golf and Country Club from July 30 through August 5, 2018. “This event means a great deal to my district and means a great deal to me,” said Commissioner Bob Lucey. “Not only does this event bring in valuable tourism, but is attended by many and lies within the heart of unincorporated Washoe County.”

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