Whose money is it?

To solve the state's budget shortfall of nearly $900 million, the Legislature and Gov. Jim Gibbons agreed to a series of cuts and they raised revenue, in part by taking from local government coffers.

As Joe Schoenmann reported in Tuesday's Las Vegas Sun, state leaders targeted local governments in Clark County because they are the largest in the state.

For example, the Legislature took $62 million from the Clean Water Coalition, $60.8 million in county property tax revenue, $53 million from the county's capital fund and $25 million from the Clark County School District's capital fund.

The taking of local government funds shows a fundamental problem in the way the state operates. Local governments in Nevada do not have home rule, which means they can only do what the Legislature allows them to do. The result is that the Legislature holds undue power and can take as it desires.

It was politically expedient for lawmakers and the governor to take from the local governments because by doing so they could ease the need for new revenue and put off a debate on the state's broken tax system. However, it was not the right thing to do.

Take, for example, the Clean Water Coalition. The coalition was created to improve the water quality in Lake Mead, and it intended to build an $860 million pipeline as part of its mission. When property owners hooked up a new water connection, they paid an extra fee to help fund the coalition. When the pipeline plan was canceled, state leaders saw a fat target.

An attorney for the M Resort sent a letter to Chip Maxfield, the head of the Clean Water Coalition, last week putting him on notice that the resort was ready to take legal action because the money is not being returned or used for its intended purpose.

The legal issue ultimately will be up for the courts to decide, but it is clear that the connection fees were designed for a specific purpose and were never meant to balance the state's shortfall. Commissioner Steve Sisolak said because the project was canceled, the money should have been returned. Instead, he said, lawmakers "have taken Southern Nevada money paid by Southern Nevada interests and are using it for a state purpose.

Taking money raised by a local government for a local project to solve the state budget crisis is wrong, no matter if the money is coming from Clark County or Lyon County.

As we have said before, local governments should have a greater say over their affairs because they are closest to the citizens they represent. And this budget fix by the Legislature is further proof of why.