Panel OKs money for tax study

CARSON CITY -- The state Board of Examiners on Tuesday endorsed spending $500,000 for a study sought by the Legislature on Nevada's revenue structure.

Officials said the actual cost could differ from the recommended amount.

Gov. Jim Gibbons voted against the expenditure, saying it was premature because a contract has not been approved. Gibbons, a Republican, is chairman of the board, which includes Secretary of State Ross Miller and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.

Miller and Masto, both Democrats, approved the measure.

The Legislature's Interim Finance Committee should wait until it chooses a consultant to conduct the study with a set price tag, rather than asking for "carte blanche" approval, Gibbons said.

The proposal should be deferred until the board can consider a finite number, he said.

Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said a legislative subcommittee received eight bids, from $32,000 to $900,000, to perform the analysis, which is due by July 1.

Malkiewich said the Interim Finance Committee decided to ask for $500,000 from the Legislature's contingency fund because six of the eight bids were within that range.

But Budget Director Andrew Clinger said once the board approves the funding request, the committee can alter the amount.

"The Board of Examiners makes a recommendation for the amount to be allocated," he said. "IFC is not bound by that recommendation, so they can change it higher or lower."

Lawmakers approved the study during the 2009 Legislature as a first step in seeking ways to try to meet a budget deficit expected to top $2 billion by 2011.