Judge Elissa Cadish Rules Clark County Officials Cannot Raid $21,560,482 Health District Building Account

Details

Created on Friday, 14 October 2011 16:28

Las Vegas, NV. – District Court Judge Elissa Cadish has ruled that Clark County officials have no claim on building fund money amassed by Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) officials. The decision from the Court reverses Clark County’s attempt to reduce the SNHD budget by $21,560,482. That budget cut essentially raided the millions of dollars which SNHD officials had set aside for a new building fund. The current headquarters were built more than 30 years ago when the population of Southern Nevada is a tiny fraction of what it is today. The current headquarters would have required millions of dollars in repair and renovation in order to properly serve the public in the coming years.

“The Southern Nevada Health District is a critically important guardian of public health, that serves a multitude of government entities and their citizens, and Clark County simply swoops in and essentially grabs the money that SNHD officials had judiciously set aside for new construction to serve the public,” said Terry Coffing, managing partner of the Law Firm of Marquis Aurbach Coffing. Coffing successfully argued that Clark County’s attempt to reduce funding to the Health District by $15,867,987 amounted to a cash grab by Clark County officials.

Said Coffing, “It is important to note that Health District officials did not raise any taxes, surcharges or any other fees to build the surplus. This is the money set aside from customers, patients and contributions from the governments and citizens of Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite. It took a lot of chutzpah for the County to simply say it was theirs and they were grabbing it, particularly in light of the fact that Clark County officials are claiming that the State of Nevada had no right to seize money from Clean Water Coalition of which Clark County is one of several major contributors.

Coffing adds that the SNHD has been an effective steward during exceptionally challenging times. “It is to the Southern Nevada Health District’s credit that they have dealt with massive emergent health issues like the endoscopy issue and the never ending fight to inoculate the community against the latest flu threat and still remain viable. Instead of rewarding the people who have served the public so well, the county essentially treated the Health District as an ATM whose budget surplus was too healthy to pass up."