The Nevada Assembly on Government Affairs Committee met on May 18 and unanimously passed SB56, also known as the new Charter for the City of Mesquite.
“At some point this week, it should go to the full Assembly for a vote,” said Warren Hardy, Lobbyist for the City. “Then it will go back over to the Senate with the amendments for a vote.”
Hardy thinks the rest of the process should be smooth for the charter and that Governor Brian Sandoval should be signing it soon.
As previously reported in the Mesquite Local News, moving to a Charter City will have little impact on the citizens. “Nothing is changing by going to a Charter City,” said Aaron Baker. “We are just mirroring our current operations by going to a Charter City status. We’re just using a different enabling legislation. Instead of using 266, we’ll be using the charter.”
The bottom line to the new charter is that Mesquite will be able to customize ordinances to best fit their needs without affecting other cities in Nevada that are under 266. “The council could have and still can change tax rates,” said Baker. “But it always has and always will have to go through a public process. None of that changes.”
