On Tuesday, the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners approved the transfer of $7.5 million from the General Fund Continency for Conflict Counsel and Cares Campus expenditures, in addition to renovations and road improvements to Our Place in Sparks.
The Board says the transfer will leave $1 million in the contingency fund for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2022.
This is what's included in the transfer:
Conflict Counsel expenses have increased beyond originally anticipated due to increased caseload, and the transfer of $300,000 will cover these increased costs.
The Human Services Agency will receive a transfer of $3 million for capital improvements and renovations of buildings at Our Place and the Women’s Crossroads program.
The Homelessness Fund will receive a transfer of $3 million to cover operating costs for the Cares Campus that were not included in the original budget due to the timing of the transfer of the campus to Washoe County.
The Roads Fund will receive $1.2 million for one-time costs that support the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant match for rural road construction projects in Gerlach, County Road 34 and County/State Road 447 and/or other unfunded projects.
At their meeting on Tuesday, April 26, the Board also approved Vote Center locations for the primary election. This means Washoe County will have 24 early voting locations, plus a ballot drop box for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. Early voting starts May 28.
On Election Day, June 14, there will be 57 vote centers throughout the county. The cost for early voting locations will be approximately $150,000, which is accounted for in the Registrar of Voters’ annual budget.
Washoe County will also enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to address recreational shooting on public land.
According to Washoe Life, the Board of County Commissioners has repeatedly been asked to address recreational target shooting on public lands through creating a congested shooting boundary, expanding shooting rights in certain parts of the county, resolving conflict with non-shooting recreation, and wildfire concerns.
Washoe County is only one party to a comprehensive plan and understanding of recreational shooting in this area, though-- with both the U. S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) being the stewards of most of the lands currently utilized for outdoor recreation in our area.
“This is a way for all three agencies to be more coordinated with our response to changing needs. One of the first things we plan on doing is getting on the citizen advisory board meetings to talk about a survey for our community related to areas they’d like to see us study,” Assistant County Manager Dave Solaro said. “This is a really good way for us to continue the conversation in a meaningful way to make sure that the use of our federal lands is appropriate and safe."
The Board today approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of the Interior, BLM, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and USFS that will help the agencies leverage expertise and other resources to provide the public with better, higher quality, sustainable recreational access to BLM and Forest Service public lands.
(Washoe Life contributed to this report)
