Reno mayor: Gibbons ‘lied’

RENO -- Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said Tuesday Gov. Jim Gibbons lied to him and Sparks Mayor Geno Martini about a voter-approved measure to raise the gas tax in Washoe County.

"The governor lied," Cashell told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Cashell said Gibbons told him and Martini that he would support any tax increase if it were passed by the voters, but now he's going to veto the voter approved SB 291.

Cashell acknowledged that Gibbons' comments were not specific to Senate Bill 201, rather that he would generally support a voter-approved tax increase.

Gibbons said last week he would veto the bill that authorizes the Washoe County Commission to enact the voter-approved gas tax increase to raise money to finance transportation projects.

Gibbons' spokesman Dan Burns said the governor doesn't consider SB201 to be a voter-approved tax increase because the ballot question itself did not contain the words "tax increase" or specify how much the tax would be raised.

Under the language, all motor vehicle fuel taxes in Washoe County would increase each year at the rate of inflation for construction materials. Local transportation officials said they would use the proceeds to bond about $250 million in critical road construction projects.

"Gibbons thinks the voters were confused? Well, I think the people of Nevada were confused when they elected him," Cashell said.

Burns disputes that Gibbons believes voters didn't know what they were voting for. Rather, Gibbons believes such ballot questions should explicitly state the words "tax increase."