A lawsuit suggests the Clark County Commission and the Southern Nevada Health District may soon be butting heads in court over budget issues.
The Health District filed suit Wednesday in Clark County District Court against the county and the commission in a dispute over funding for a replacement headquarters building for the district.
“Clark County has wrongfully thwarted and refused to cooperate with the Southern Nevada Health District for the district’s efforts to acquire and own a new, adequate main office,” the suit alleges.
The suit notes the health district’s main office at 625 Shadow Lane was built in 1953.
The suit says the district has been looking to acquire new property for its main office because of the age of the current building and its inadequacy to house all of the district’s departments.
The Health District seeks a court declaration that it can acquire and own real estate to establish a new main office and that the county must cooperate with its plans.
The lawsuit suggests the county is taking the position that the Health District cannot own real estate.
The suit suggests the county also disputes the district’s assertion it’s entitled to keep all the tax money raised by a property tax levy of 3.5 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation for all taxable property in the county.
The suit says that in 2005, the Nevada Legislature expanded the responsibilities and rights of the former Clark County Health District into the current Southern Nevada Health District and that state law defines the district as a “local government” that can collect and keep taxes.
Officials at the county on Thursday had not seen the suit and had no immediate comment on it. It was filed by attorneys with the Las Vegas law firm Marquis Aurbach Coffing.