Assembly Democrats reach road funding deal

Assembly Democrats have reached an apparent agreement on a plan to reallocate existing taxes and use the money to float a $1.9 billion road construction bond issue, enough to allow the Transportation Department to begin work on widening sections of Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95 in Southern Nevada.
Under the proposed agreement, the state would take $20 million a year in room taxes from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau along with a 1 percent share of the existing 4 percent car rental tax. Also, local governments would be asked to reallocate 3 cents of existing property taxes to the state for highway construction.
These taxes initially would raise about $25 million a year. But by 2015, the amount would increase to more than $63 million a year.
Assembly Transportation Chairman Kelvin Atkinson and Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, both D-Las Vegas, declined to verify that an agreement had been reached, but said they might have an announcement at a 2:30 p.m. committee meeting.