234 



Senator Hecht. Thank you very much for taking the trip over 

 here. 

 Shelley, how are you? 



STATEMENT OF SHELLEY WADSWORTH, EXECUTIVE SECRE- 

 TARY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE, LINCOLN 

 COUNTY, NV 



Ms. Wadsworth. I am very well. Thank you. 



Senator Hecht. Nice to see you in Washington after seeing you 

 in Carson City. 



Ms. Wadsworth. And it is nice seeing you again. We look for- 

 ward to having you back in Lincoln County. 



Senator Hecht. Thank you. Next month, August. 



Ms. Wadsworth. Mr. Chairman, Members of the committee, 

 ladies and gentlemen, my name is Shelley Wadsworth, I am the ex- 

 ecutive secretary to the Lincoln County Economic Development 

 Task Force. 



It is an honor to be here in the Nation's capital to testify on 

 behalf of the Aerojet Nevada land exchange. I am a Nevadan and I 

 have been for 30 years. 



I have grown up, lived, and worked in Lincoln County. I am 

 biased, I know, but we have the best place in the country to live 

 and raise our children. We have clean air, water, and a beautiful 

 countryside. The only think we lack is jobs. 



Aerojet Nevada's land exchange alone would increase our land 

 base tax base half again. In our county, which in size is larger than 

 nine states, we have only 1.2 percent of the land as a tax base. The 

 rest is Federal or state owned. 



The minimal tax base poses serious budget problems. If you read 

 the Washington Post this morning, you may have seen an article 

 regarding the crunch many local government's face because of cut- 

 backs in revenue-sharing. 



It is the history of the state and Federal government in the last 

 few years to pass laws, rules, and regulations which increase de- 

 mands on local government while the Federal government at the 

 same time cuts revenue-sharing, reducing payment in lieu of taxes, 

 et cetera. 



The Federal government in making these demands greatly bur- 

 dens local governments, in some instances forcing local govern- 

 ments near bankruptcy, such as our own county is. Laws, regula- 

 tions, and especially court pronouncements have added 50 percent 

 to the cost of staffing local jails. 



The courts can say, because you lack five square feet to give this 

 poor, unfortunate, humane conditions, we will soak you $1 million. 

 But never a word is said about where to get the money to add 

 space to a jailhouse built over 50 years ago. 



The Health Department of the United States mandates proce- 

 dures for cleaning up the environment or enforcing child support, 

 adding 20 percent to costs of the local district attorneys, but noth- 

 ing but match grants are offered to offset additional costs. 



Sound local governments are in a budget-busting position to 

 come up with matching funds, yet are faced with sure court action 

 if they do not spend money they do not have. One big help the Fed- 



