Assembly Bill 11 would shift Department of Taxation budget and BDR submissions from June to January

The Nevada Department of Taxation told the Assembly Committee on Revenue that Assembly Bill 11 would move the statutory date for the department to present its proposed budget and bill-draft requests (BDRs) to the Nevada Tax Commission from June of even-numbered years to January of odd-numbered years.

Shelly Hughes, executive director of the Department of Taxation, told the committee the change is intended to resolve timing and confidentiality conflicts between the department’s budget and BDR development processes and the statutory June deadline for presenting those documents to the Tax Commission.

Hughes said current law (statutory citations discussed in the presentation) requires submission at a meeting conducted pursuant to NRS 361.455 in June of an even-numbered year, but the department’s internal budget requests are not due until Sept. 1 of even-numbered years and the governor’s office does not approve enhancement requests and BDRs until later. She said BDRs approved and submitted by the governor’s office are confidential until prefiled under NRS 218D provisions. "Submitting anything public prior to January really isn't a possibility," Hughes said.

Under AB11 as explained in the department’s presentation, section 1 would change the submission date to January of each odd-numbered year and section 2 would make the act effective upon passage and approval. Hughes said that change would not prevent the Nevada Tax Commission from directing the department to include an item in its budget or to pursue a BDR at any commission meeting.

Committee members asked clarifying questions. Assemblymember Roth, new to the committee, asked about the original intent of the June deadline; Hughes said similar language was adopted in 1997 amid tensions over appeals and the relationship between the commission and the executive director, and that legislative-session schedule changes in 1998 (sessions limited to 120 days beginning in 1999 and moved to start the first Monday in February) may have affected original timing assumptions.

Vice Chair Considine asked what role the Nevada Tax Commission plays under current law in the department’s budget and legislative process. Hughes said the commission “traditionally isn't involved in the day-to-day operations of the department” and does not weigh in on budgetary matters; the department pursues BDRs only with governor’s office approval.

Committee members asked whether the department could present materials to the commission in a closed meeting to preserve confidentiality. Yvonne Navaras Goodson, chief deputy executive director, said open-meeting law limits such confidentiality absent recognized exceptions for litigation counsel and that historically the department has not had authority to meet confidentially with the commission for this purpose.

Hughes told the committee the department would intend to schedule a tax commission meeting within the two-week period before the start of the legislative session (but after the governor’s recommended budget is finalized) if the bill were approved.

No public testimony in support, opposition or neutral was recorded on the bill during the hearing. The committee closed the hearing on Assembly Bill 11 and moved to the final agenda item, public comment, where no callers spoke.