Commercial Alliance Las Vegas’ Sept. 21 educational symposium featured an infrastructure panel with Pat Mulroy of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Republic Services’ Bob Coyle, the Regional Transportation Commission’s Tina Quigley, and Tony Sanchez of NV Energy. The discussion, moderated by journalist Steve Sebelius, focused on rising utility costs amid reduced tax income and recessionary budget shortfalls. Water infrastructure costs, for example, were once largely financed by connection fees. The economy sharply curtailed new development activity, however, forcing the water agency to rework its funding formula. Rainy day reserves have since evaporated, resulting in substantially higher fees to underwrite expenses. Republic Services, meanwhile, is reducing trash pick-up to once a week while simultaneously increasing recyclable service. All the panelists touted the region’s low utility costs in comparison to other major metropolitan areas, while also lamenting the current economic climate. “This recession is lasting longer and deeper than anyone could have anticipated,” Mulroy said. “The shock comes from not having had topay for things like fire lines before.”
