State budget cuts coming
Legislature will trim out $812M
CARSON CITY — Nevada will enact the first of an expected $812 million in state budget cuts this week, a 4 percent rollback in nearly all areas of state spending driven by the COVID-19 pandemic that includes a $265 million reduction in the outlay for K-12 schools.
Additional cuts include $67 million pared from agency budgets and $22 million from canceled one-time projects, including large outlays for new vehicles and computer systems enhancement. Another $27 million in outlays will be covered by federal COVID-19 funding to the state via the CARES Act.
The state forecasts a nearly $562 million dropoff in revenues, a more than 12 percent decline, including a $182 million drop in revenue from sales tax and nearly $161 million in gaming taxes. Another $37 million vanished from the state’s live entertainment tax.
The figures are listed in a summary of spending reductions presented to the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee,
which is set to finalize the agency cuts at its meeting Friday.
“The State is making difficult budgetary decisions at this time that are necessary to end Fiscal Year 2020 with a balanced budget following the unexpected impact of a worldwide pandemic,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said in a statement released late Tuesday afternoon. “While Nevada is on the road to recovery and gradually reopening our economy, we
are working diligently with our state agencies to identify the reductions necessary for fiscal responsibility while prioritizing the resources necessary to protect the health and safety of Nevada’s residents.”
Other proposed cuts include canceling a $25 million capital improvement outlay for UNLV’S medical school.
The $265 million reduction in public school funding, the result of lower school support tax collections, represents a nearly 8 percent cut in funding to the state’s K-12 system.
The $67 million in agency cuts
includes $3 million in the governor’s office, $7.9 million from the Department of Education, $2.8 million from Public Safety, $14 million from the Nevada System of Higher Education, $12.7 million in cost-of-living raises for the two education agencies,
$1.8 million from Conservation and Natural Resources, $1 million from Taxation, and a $19 million rollback in Health and Human Services, the state’s largest agency. There are no cuts proposed for the legislative and judicial branches or for the Department of Corrections.
On the revenue side, the state
anticipates a $76 million combined drop-off in the commerce tax and modified business tax, $22 million less in cigarette taxes, $14 million less in taxes on short-term car rentals, and nearly $13 million less in business license fees.
Contact Capital Bureau reporter Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @Dentzernews on Twitter. Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @ Coltonlochhead on Twitter.