<div id="subtitle">Coroner predicts rise in revenue if prices for some procedures cut</div><div><p> When authorities in some of Nevada’s rural counties need an autopsy conducted, they have to ask for help.</p><p>They lack the equipment and personnel to determine an official cause and manner of death for a homicide investigation. In the past they have frequently turned to the Clark County coroner’s office. For each of these non-Clark County autopsies — there were about 30 last year — the coroner charges the outside agency or county government $2,500.</p><p>Is that a lot of money for an autopsy?</p><p>It is these days. With the price of gas going up again and the economy in the toilet, rural counties are thinking twice about sending their dead to Clark County. That’s why Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy would like to create a price list, which would start at $1,400 to $1,500 at the low end.</p><p>Wouldn’t that create even more work for the coroner’s office?</p><p>It would. But at an office that does about 1,600 autopsies per year and 1,600 examinations of dead bodies (which are not as comprehensive as autopsies), the additional 20 or so bodies wouldn’t make that much of a difference, Murphy said.</p><p>But why do it? Why does Murphy want to be so magnanimous?</p><p>Two reasons. First, it’s the fair thing to do because some cases really do not cost $2,500. And this would help our fellow Nevadans. The other reason is economics. He figures if he lowers the price, his office will get more business from the rural counties, so in the long run it will result in more revenue.</p><p>“I’m working at maximizing our work potential and also generating revenue, which is what we should be doing as a county agency,” Murphy said.</p><p>When will the County Commission vote on his proposal?</p><p>Not until June, after the 2009 legislative session.</p><p>Why are commissioners waiting?</p><p>They want to see how the state treats them in the coming months. If the state picks Clark County’s pockets, it’s going to be harder to vote to reduce any fees.</p><p>Los Angeles County officials have talked lately about trying to withhold tax payments from the California state government. Are Clark County commissioners considering revolting in a similar way?</p><p>“That’s what I thought we should be doing all along,” Commissioner Tom Collins said.</p><p>But Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who served in the state Assembly for 16 years, said there’s a big difference between California and Nevada. California is a “home-rule” state, meaning its local governments have much more control over their local tax dollars than in Nevada, where local government has to obtain state permission for something as simple as raising marriage license fees.</p><p>So, unlike their counterparts in L.A., Clark County officials are virtually powerless to carry out any tax revolution, Giunchigliani said.</p><p>What’s the latest on the residents of Cactus Ridge, the mobile home park the county used to own just west of Las Vegas Boulevard and north of South Point?</p><p>In a few weeks, dozens of those residents, some of whom are elderly and disabled, will see their rents increase to levels many say they can’t afford.</p><p>The county moved many of the residents 10 years ago because McCarran International Airport wanted the land they had lived on to accommodate airport expansion. Federal laws froze rents for 42 months, then increases were limited for the next 6 years to changes in the Consumer Price Index.</p><p>Now Ray Koroghli, who bought the 37-acre mobile home park in 2005 for</p><p>$32 million, is raising the rents to match those of other mobile home parks.</p><p>Wasn’t there some talk of the county trying to rescue the residents, maybe by buying the park back or swapping other county land for it?</p><p>There was some talk at the government center about whether the county had any obligation or will to try to rescue the residents. Commissioner Steve Sisolak tried to come up with a plan. He met with some of the residents and the property owner’s representatives. “But we’re not buying the mobile home park back,” Sisolak said. “There’s no money to do that. I think the homeowners understand that.”</p><p>What now?</p><p>Sisolak isn’t sure. He is setting up a meeting between Clark County Social Service and residents to “see how we can assist .. to</p><p>try to come up with a way to mitigate the impact that these rent increases, or potential moves, are going to have on these individuals”</p><p>Joe Schoenmann can be reached at 455-6175 or at joe.schoenmann@lasvegassun.com.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=42344732&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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