RTC receives clean audit on spending of fuel tax revenues

With one minor exception, revenue generated by a fuel indexing tax that was gradually increased over the past three years was properly accounted for and spent by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, according to an accountant’s report presented on Thursday.

The report was released less than a month before the Nov. 8 election, when Clark County voters will decide whether to extend that fuel index tax for another decade.

The county Board of Commissioners approved the fuel revenue index tax in 2013, which has helped pay for 161 design and construction projects totaling $401 million as of Sept. 30, RTC General Manager Tina Quigley said.

Inaccurate billing by the city of Las Vegas led to an over-reimbursement of more than $1.36 million in fuel taxes that was used to help fund a $37.4 million improvement project that started in May along Main and Commerce streets in the downtown area, according to the four-page report issued this month by Las Vegas accountant Dennis Meservy.

The error was caught by RTC employees and the city of Las Vegas returned the overpayment the RTC, said Meservy, who also sits on the State Board of Equalization.

Despite that single item, Meservy said “we found that the controls are very well put in place, the records are proper and the funds are all accounted for.”

Clark County voters headed to the polls on Nov. 8 will consider Question 5, which calls for a 10-year extension of the fuel revenue index to cover the cost of about $3 billion in new roads, freeways and transportation projects.

If approved by a simple majority of county voters, gasoline taxes could incrementally climb about 3.6 cents per gallon annually, according to RTC projections.

That comes to 36.32 cents more per gallon by 2026, based on a 4.54 percent annual inflation rate connected to the producer price index, which measures the rising cost in construction, commodity markets and other industries. County commissioners in September approved a plan that would cap the annual increases to 4 cents.

Before 2014, county drivers were already paying 52 cents per gallon of gasoline to cover federal, state and county taxes and fees. Another 10 cents has since been tacked on because of the fuel revenue index tax that was approved in 2013.

“We were concerned about the need for transparency, that the public deserved to have confidence in the use of these resources,” said Debra March, a Henderson city councilwoman who sits on the RTC board. “I think that the public can go forward in November to vote and have confidence knowing that those resources are reaching the community in a professional and thorough manner.”

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin LV on Twitter.