The Elko County Board of Commissioners on July 2 approved an ordinance amending Elko County Code Title 6, Chapter 14 to expand eligible uses of the infrastructure sales and use tax and adopted a public-safety infrastructure plan for fiscal year 2026 that includes equipment, vehicle and facility requests for the fire district, sheriff’s office and emergency services.

County staff said the amendment to Ordinance No. 2025-03 broadens the statute’s previous scope — which primarily covered road projects and the Elko County Fire Protection District — to allow infrastructure-tax funds to support “all public safety” needs, including sheriff’s vehicles, ambulances, emergency management and dispatch. “The crux of this whole thing is to expand the eligible use to all of the public safety entities,” a county staff member said during the second reading and public hearing.

The change references Elko County Code Title 6, Chapter 14 and the county’s authority under Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) related to infrastructure taxation. Commissioners said they retained a previously established set-aside of $500,000 annually for incorporated cities’ road improvements while expanding the public-safety language and clarifying purchasing thresholds (for example changing a per-item $5,000 threshold to an aggregated acquisition threshold).

At the meeting the board also reviewed and approved the public-safety infrastructure plan for FY26, which consolidates agency requests in Appendix F of the plan. Submitted requests include fleet replacement and refurbishment, personal protective equipment (PPE) and station work for the fire protection district, ambulance replacement planning, a $400,000-per-year lease program for sheriff vehicles (moved into the infrastructure fund), and preliminary funding requests and planning for a proposed medical-and-behavioral-health wing at the county jail.

Specific figures discussed in the meeting record include a $465,000 line for station construction and related items in the fire district request and an aggregated $6,000,000 figure mentioned in the fire district materials; an estimated $1,090,000 in capital requests from the sheriff’s office (including $130,000 to purchase and outfit two vehicles and roughly $60,000 for a facility condition assessment) and a $16,000,000 planning estimate cited for the jail medical/behavioral-health wing (county staff said that figure excludes soft costs and that the county would combine multiple capital sources). Staff recommended carrying a fund balance to allow for cost fluctuations.

The board voted to approve the ordinance on its second reading and carried motions to adopt the FY26 public-safety plan and to authorize related apparatus and equipment purchases and vehicle-leasing expenditures outlined in the agenda. Commissioners emphasized prudence on carryover balances and clarified that some purchases (for example equipment funded by outside grants) would only be executed once grant approvals are final.

Votes at a glance
- Ordinance No. 2025-03 (amend Elko County Code Title 6, Chapter 14): approved by voice vote; motion carried.
- Public-safety infrastructure tax plan FY26: approved by voice vote; motion carried.
- G1: Authorize purchases (apparatus, SCBA, PPE and related apparatus not to exceed specified amounts): authorized by voice vote; motion carried.
- G2: Authorize Elko County Sheriff’s Office to expend up to $400,000 from infrastructure tax funds for the vehicle lease program FY26: authorized by voice vote; motion carried.
- H1: Authorize expenditure of preparedness working group (EPWG) funds as outlined (pending outside approvals where noted): authorized by voice vote; motion carried.

Why it matters
Expanding the county’s infrastructure-tax eligible use to cover a wider array of public-safety needs lets the county consolidate capital requests for multiple public-safety agencies under a single revenue stream. Staff said the change provides flexibility to replace aging vehicles and equipment, fund station work and support a long-planned jail medical/behavioral-health expansion — items county officials said will otherwise strain the general fund and other capital resources.

What happens next
County staff will proceed with the procurement steps laid out in the agenda — subject to final grant approvals where noted — and return with formal contracts or purchase approvals when required. Commissioners reserved fund carryovers to account for price volatility and long lead times on specialized equipment such as ambulances.