Support of SB 278 may have been an open meeting law violation

A bill whose fangs have been pulled may still come back to bite Douglas County commissioners in the form of an open meeting law violation.

Gardnerville resident Jack Van Dien filed his complaint against commissioners on April 30, charging that the board voted to support what would later become Senate Bill 278 without indicating on the agenda what action would be taken. The bill would have allowed rural counties to combine to form health districts that would have authority to raise taxes to fund their efforts.

"The meeting agenda item did not convey to the public the potential for added taxation, risk of debt issuance and transfer of authority over health matters, which could occur from a bill in consideration at the Legislature," Van Dien said in his complaint.

The complaint stems from commissioners' Feb. 19 meeting in Stateline. Under the County Manager's portion of the agenda was a 30-minute item on "discussion and possible action for direction to staff regarding legislative update, proposed legislation and legislative issues during the 2009 Legislative Session."

The Legislature had been in session for about three weeks when commissioners met with lobbyist firm Walker & Associates, about two bills and one bill draft, BDR 1061, which would later become Senate Bill 278.

Mary Walker presented the case for the bill, saying it would be a way for counties who rely on the state to fund their own services.

After hearing Walker, commissioners voted unanimously to support the bill.

Van Dien said he thinks Walker's presentation was misleading, because it downplayed the taxing power included in the bill's language. He also took issue with the discussion being held at commissioners' Lake Tahoe meeting.

"In spite of significant consequences to taxpayers, no other public hearings were held," he said. "Violating their agreement with the public, although the issue clearly impacts the mass of county residents, the issue was agendized at a Lake meeting instead."

Van Dien said county commissioners and staff actively lobbied the Legislature and testified in favor of the bill, which was gutted by the Senate.

Unlike commissioners, county Republicans passed a resolution in opposition to the bill, asking that the county officials stop lobbying legislators in favor of the bill until a public hearing.

In the meantime, lawmakers have rewritten the bill to study the issue of allowing counties with fewer than 100,000 people to form health districts during the interim session. The Assembly added a provision that would explore the feasibility of consolidating health and social services in Clark County.