(Nevada News Bureau Staff) – The Nevada Legislature has reached agreement with a firm hired to help analyze the state’s revenue structure to complete a portion of the project.
The agreement reached with Moody’s Analytics requires the firm to finish the Nevada Vision Stakeholder Group portion of the contract by Sept. 15. It will require more work by the firm and two more meetings of the Vision Stakeholder Group, but the payment will remain at the initial bid of just under $100,000.
Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said the other piece of the contract, a tax study, was cancelled.
“We cancelled the tax study portion, as it was too far behind schedule to allow completion in a timely manner,” he said. “We will pay nothing for any work they’ve already done on that portion.”
The company had been sent a notice of default for failing to complete the contracted work for a total cost of $253,000. A report was due July 1.
The firm produced a draft report that was rejected in May by the Vision Stakeholder Group, a panel of 19 Nevada residents appointed by the Legislature to assist in the overall revenue study. The group’s charge was to produce a document highlighting what the group wanted Nevada to look like over the next several years.
The draft report included a discussion on taxes but did not include any specific recommendations.
Lawmakers are facing a revenue shortfall in the next budget that could total as much as $3.5 billion. The shortfall could mean huge cuts to state programs and education without new revenue. A collection of temporary tax hikes approved by the Legislature in 2009 to balance the current budget are set to expire next June 30.
The study was sought by some lawmakers for guidance on how to deal with the state’s ongoing budget crisis.
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