Nevada Senate committee hears bill to let counties use 911 surcharges for construction, raises county carryover limits

Senators on the Nevada Senate Committee on Government Affairs heard testimony on Senate Bill 208 on Thursday, a bill that would expand how counties may use revenue collected from county telephone surcharges for 911 services and raise the maximum fund balance counties may retain.

Sponsor Senator John Steinbeck, presenting the bill, told the committee SB208 “expands the permissible use of surcharge revenue to include costs associated with construction or upgrading facilities for emergency telephone systems.” He said the change is intended to align Nevada with federal rules and with practice in other states.

Supporters including law-enforcement and fire dispatch officials testified the change would help planned joint communications centers. Rich Hogan, chief financial officer of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said the allowance to use surcharge revenue “would potentially . . . allow us to use some revenue to offset the cost of constructing that facility.” He and other witnesses told senators it is difficult to manage a multi-year construction project with the present $5 million carryover cap for larger counties.

Ashanti Gray, assistant chief and director of the Combined Communications Center for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, said the center is among the region’s busiest and described how upgraded technology and colocated facilities could improve response. “This legislation is an investment in public safety. It modernizes our technology, strengthens coordination, and protects our community,” Gray said, noting the center handled “over 600,000 calls” in 2024.

Washoe County presented a friendly amendment to increase the allowable carryover for that county to $7,500,000; the bill as presented would raise the maximum ending balance to $15,000,000 for counties over 700,000 in population and preserve lower thresholds for smaller counties. Cadence Matevich of Washoe County summarized the amendment and said the cap increase recognizes that “the buying power of $5,000,000 when this was originally put into place is not the same as it used to be.”

Committee legal staff and the bill sponsor clarified an amendment addressing portable event recording devices (body-worn cameras). Heidi Clarkson of the Legislative Council Bureau explained the bill as introduced would have removed authority to use 911 surcharge funds for body cameras; the committee’s conceptual amendment keeps those sections of law unchanged so the bill “does not affect those sections.” Senator Steinbeck and counsel reiterated the bill does not raise the per-line surcharge itself; local counties set and collect the fees.

Local governments and public-safety organizations from Clark and Washoe counties and municipal governments testified in support, including Clark County and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department representatives, dispatch supervisors from Reno, and labor organizations for dispatch and public-safety personnel. Witnesses said the changes would allow counties to accumulate funds for large, one-time capital projects; speakers repeatedly emphasized the bill is enabling rather than mandatory — counties would still choose whether to impose and spend the surcharge.

No one testified in opposition during the hearing. Senator Steinbeck closed by thanking the committee and supporters and noting dispatchers are “the unsung heroes” of emergency response.

If adopted, the bill would allow counties that already impose the local 911 telephone surcharge to apply that revenue to construction and facility upgrades for emergency telephone systems, raise specified carryover limits by county population, and leave decisions about actual surcharges and implementation to county authorities.