Taxpayers can find lots to like in list of 62 spending reforms

Every candidate on Nevada’s ballot this fall, as well as anyone else who cares about the state’s budget, should read a 15-page document that has 62 specific, easy-to-understand spending reform proposals for Nevada.

This must-read document is the work of Carole Vilardo, president of Nevada Taxpayers Association, and it’s available at www.nevadataxpayers.org if you click on “Publications,” then “Nevada Issues,” then “Spending Reforms for Nevada.”

“There’s something in there for everybody to love and hate,” Vilardo said this past week.

Many of the proposals you’ve heard before, but the true joy is that it’s easy to understand. Vilardo eliminated the bureaucratic lingo, the slang only a budget wonk would understand. The proposals are named, a reason is given, and then she states what action would be needed. Could the governor do it on his own? Or does he need legislative approval? A few proposals could be accomplished by other elected bodies, such as the Board of Regents or Clark County School District trustees.

Even idiot reporters could follow these proposals.

If Gov. Jim Gibbons wants a legacy of substance, he could consider some ideas that could become reality through his actions alone.

Naturally, there are controversial ideas on the list. Changing retirement benefits and cutting benefits for government workers won’t be popular with them.

But how many times have you read that someone left a job and was paid a huge dollar amount for unused vacation and sick leave. Did you know “buybacks” are calculated on the highest salary when they left, not the amount it would have cost when they earned it? Changing that is a no-brainer.

The list covers budget reforms, employee compensation, personnel, technology, property assets, debt reporting and education.

Some of the ideas are 20 years old, such as the first proposal to prioritize the expenditure of funds.

Any normal person does that, but not state government.

Since 1990, Nevada Taxpayers Association has urged prioritizing how the state spends its money. Pick the essential needs, but spell out which are mandatory and which could be cut during economic downturns.

Instead, the state budget is built on the assumption everything from the previous budget is essential.

Vilardo wants the public to see the proposals because she knows “the more the public understands some of these issues, that’s where I think we get the support.”

Vilardo has served on the Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission as well as similar commissions in Washoe and Clark counties. SAGE suggestions are repeated throughout.

She understands how A impacts B and how C can’t be done because D prohibits it while E won’t pass for political reasons. She knows how the state budget intertwines with the local budgets, sometimes to the benefit, sometimes to the detriment, of local governments.

She’s not done. In July, she plans to weigh in with proposals for local governments, and, yes, she’s in favor of consolidation, an old idea resurrected by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Those proposals doubtlessly will be just as clear and concise as this spending reform list and deserve serious discussion and debate before the elections and during the next Legislature.

With Nevada’s ghastly new status as having the
highest-in-the-nation unemployment, some candidates won’t embrace ideas that might result in job losses in state government.

The proposals won’t create a better education system or improve mental health services or services for the poor.

But before anyone takes that on, embracing a few sensible ideas to stop the budget bleeding wouldn’t hurt.

If the next governor is burdened with a budget deficit of nearly $3 billion as predicted, this document is, at the very least, a solid starting point for discussion even if it’s not a magical fix.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 702- 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.