CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons said Tuesday he would not object if Nevadans decided in the general election next year to raise taxes to fund $3.8 billion in highway construction.

"I always said the public runs this state," Gibbons said in an interview after a state Board of Examiners meeting. "They elected me because I oppose tax and fee increases. If the public wants to implement a tax on themselves, that is up to the voting public. A vote of the public will supersede a governor's reluctance to raise taxes."

Gibbons said he would need to see the bill setting up a road tax ballot question before signing it, but that he does not oppose letting citizens decide whether to tax themselves.

Brent Boynton, Gibbons' director of communications, said later the governor was not encouraging legislators to simply hand the issue to voters without examining other options for funding highway construction.

During the interview, Gibbons reiterated his no-new taxes pledge and added he considers increasing fees the same as increasing taxes.

As a result, he is reviewing his earlier decision to allow the state Health Division to implement four fee increases.

"We will probably pull them out," he said.

But finding $3.8 billion to construct 13 major highway projects between now and 2015 has become an issue without an answer at the 2007 Legislature.

An analysis found the Nevada Department of Transportation would need about $280 million more a year in revenue to pay off a $3.8 billion bond issue.

Given the reluctance of the governor and many legislators to raise taxes, two Assembly Transportation Committee members last week said the only option may be letting voters decide whether they want to increase taxes.

Gibbons still hopes "there is an option out there we haven't been aware of" that will provide a way to construct the major highways projects. He is on the verge of naming a committee to look at ways of funding highway construction.

"I want to see what other states are doing," the governor said. "I am not happy with the suggestions that have come out so far ... gas taxes, toll roads."

A 17-member Blue Ribbon Task Force on Transportation appointed by then-Gov. Kenny Guinn made those suggestions in December after conducting a series of meetings over a year and a half.

Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, also wants to consider all alternatives before passing the buck to voters.

"It is a lot of money," he said. "The state is growing. At the end of the day, voters may have to decide if they want to fund more transportation."

He noted Clark County voters and citizens in California overwhelmingly approved tax increases for road improvements in the past.

Highway congestion could get worse. Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, mentioned during a Senate Commerce and Labor Committee hearing that the MGM's announcement Monday that it will build a master-planned community at Jean may make highway construction even more imperative.

"If you put tens of thousands of people out on I-15 at Jean, I-15 is dead," Schneider said.

Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey, R-Las Vegas, added his party caucus has made finding a solution to the highway construction shortfall one of its priorities for the 2007 Legislature.

"We want to address it sooner, rather than waiting until 2008," Mabey said. "The public can't provide it all."

In the interview, Gibbons also said his bill to start a $60 million Nevada education empowerment program soon will be ready for introduction at the Legislature.

He said he wants to continue the current program of offering full-day kindergarten in at-risk elementary schools. Those are schools where 55 percent or more of students qualify for free or discount lunches.

"It is important we have both pilot programs going," he said. "Hopefully they (legislators) are willing to work with us. We are all interested in one thing: providing the best education to the children of Nevada."

Assembly Education Committee Chairman Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, expressed a willingness to work with Gibbons, suggesting the Legislature expand full-day kindergarten in some, but not all, schools this session and scale back slightly on Gibbons' empowerment program.

"I am always optimistic," she said. "Normally, we do come to resolutions. I think it will happen with empowerment and full-day kindergarten."