Officials consider return of water coalition proceeds

With the state Supreme Court ruling Thursday that it was unconstitutional for lawmakers to take $62 million from a local water coalition, the money's exact fate is uncertain.

The Southern Nevada Clean Water Coalition's board members will meet to determine whether the money should be returned to the four entities that collected fees for a now-scrapped pipeline project.

They are Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas.

Each of the local governments then will decide whether to refund the fees to the various users, including large casinos.

County Commissioner Larry Brown, a coalition board member, expects the local governments will retrieve their portions of the funds.

"We're very pleased with the (state Supreme Court) decision," Brown said.

He said he will recommend to his fellow commissioners that the money be returned to the county's users.

Calculations show the county's portion is $32 million, Las Vegas' is about $16 million, Henderson's is $8 million and North Las Vegas' is $6 million.

The jurisdictions each have paid more into the project over the years, but some money was spent on preliminary work such as design and environmental studies and can't be recovered, coalition officials said.

Henderson Councilman Steve Kirk, a coalition board member, said he also supports refunding money to users.

Kirk applauded the high court's decision, saying it avoids setting a "dangerous precedent" for the state to grab local money collected for a specific purpose -- in this case, a wastewater pipeline.

Kirk said his one concern was that the ruling could anger state officials who might retaliate by squeezing money from local governments in other ways.

The M Resort in Henderson, which paid about $1 million in fees, filed the lawsuit against the state after the Legislature in 2009 voted to take the coalition's fund.

Anthony Marnell, M Resort's CEO, said the legal fight was about a bigger issue than the money. Lawmakers' actions were unconstitutional and had to be challenged, he said.

The state is hurting financially, and this court decision will cause even more pain, Marnell said. But if state leaders need revenue, they should get it through taxes and not by raiding local coffers, he said.

"They're going to have to deal with it straight up," Marnell said.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.