Legislative panel lets county decide on Laughlin incorporation vote

Laughlin residents who want to incorporate their small Colorado River town will have to wait until Tuesday's Clark County Commission meeting.

The state Legislative Commission passed Wednesday on a proposal to allow a ballot measure to create a new city.

Instead, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, handed off the decision to the county without a vote of the Legislative Commission, which he leads. The panel of 12 lawmakers decides some legislative matters when the entire Legislature is not in session.

Horsford told a packed room of Laughlin residents in Las Vegas that if he held a vote, then legislators would reject scheduling an election. The meeting was teleconferenced between the Sawyer Building in Las Vegas and the Legislative Building in Carson City.

Laughlin residents "deserve the right to vote" on incorporation, Horsford said, but he noted a state Department of Taxation study found the new city would be $4.3 million short of its revenue needs in the first year.

Sen. Michael Roberson, R-Las Vegas, objected to Horsford's decision not to vote on the matter, saying if the County Commission is allowed to decide, then "it won't do anything."

"The will of the people will be denied," Roberson said.

Under a law approved by the Legislature in the spring, either the Legislative Commission or the County Commission can decide whether to schedule an incorporation election following a feasibility study.

If voters approve an incorporation move, then the new city would start operating on July 1, 2013.

Laughlin, about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas, has about 7,300 residents. The casino corridor in Laughlin would not be part of the new city. The proposed city covers 88 square miles.

Horsford and several other legislators were concerned about the big differences in the amount of revenue available for Laughlin as determined by the Taxation Department versus a study by the pro-incorporation Laughlin Economic Development Corporation. This group found the city would have a balanced budget.

Dozens of residents, clad in "Vote Yes -- City of Laughlin" T-shirts, packed the Sawyer Building, anticipating that legislators would approve an election to allow them to become an independent city no longer reliant on county services.

Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, questioned how the town's current assets, paid for with county taxpayer dollars, would be divvied up.

An audible groan rumbled through the audience at her line of questioning.

"We helped pay for those," one woman hissed.

Susan Jenin, 55, a five-year resident of Laughlin, said incorporation would allow the city more revenue and give more rights to residents.

"We'll have more of a say," Jenin said. "All we're here for is the right to vote. This is a voting issue."

Jenin said she is optimistic about Laughlin becoming a city.

"I haven't talked to anybody who isn't for it that lives there," she said.

Her sister, Kay Meggison, has lived in Laughlin for 23 years.

"It's difficult to transmit your voice 100 miles away," Meggison, 69, said.

They questioned how people who don't live in Laughlin can make decisions about what's best for the town.

"They don't have all the information to make that determination," Jenin said.

But Laughlin resident Herm Walker said voting on incorporation is premature because the new city would not be financially feasible.

He said supporters are talking about a 26 percent reduction in police and fire protection services and even establishing a volunteer fire department.

Jim Vincent, a Laughlin Town Advisory Board member, agreed, contending incorporation is "three or four years premature."

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.