Dusty dirt roads have some Spanish Springs residents up in arms.

More than 500 residents could have a $400 per month bill coming their way after Washoe County Commissioners took one step closer to forming a Special Assessment District on Wednesday night. The tax from the SAD will go to pave gravel roads in the Calle De La Platta area.

County commissioners and planners are expecting a fight against the fee.

“The opponents have 30 days to file a lawsuit,” said county assistant public works director Kimble Corbridge. “They did before and we expect that to happen again.”

The special assessment district was previously proposed in 2002 and was met with a lawsuit that made it to the Nevada Supreme Court. Now that the suit has been ruled on, the SAD is back before the commission.

Everyone is expecting another suit appealing the commission’s action.

“We are going to sit tight for 30 days,” Corbridge said.

Tuesday’s meeting was simply to address the concerns of opponents and proponents. Before the SAD can be formed, county planners need to complete road design plans and nail down a specific cost estimate, according to county public works director Dan St. John.

“Then, the board (of county commissioners) considers passing an ordinance creating the SAD,” St. John said.

He added that the design plans and cost estimate may move slowly while the county watches the opposition in the next 30 days.

“We need to be realistic and recognize that there is a real possibility that members of the opposition will file a lawsuit,” St. John said. “We are not going to expend a lot of staff time till that 30 days is over.”

The special assessment district would enact a self-imposed tax on the locals. County staff said the amount of the tax would depend on how much the paving will cost.

“It could be anywhere from $150 to $200 to $400,” said Bob Larkin, county commissioner for the Spanish Springs area. “However, we don’t know (specifics) until the project comes back from bid. We have heard as high as $12 million (for the total project).”

The residents’ money would pay to pave about 12 miles of gravel roads and add storm drainage capacity to the area.

However, many are in opposition to the project.

The county received 159 letters of complaint from area residents, meaning that 31 percent of the proposed district opposed the project. This was not enough to stop the district, and the tax, from being approved. In order to block the SAD request, 51 percent of the area residents would have needed to voice their opposition to the proposal.

“We live in a country that abides by the rule of law and the due process of law,” Larkin said. “Folks that have issues with that always have redress through the court system.”

Larkin said that he is expecting another lawsuit.

Corbridge, who worked for the county in 2002, said this year’s opposition is about the same as it was the first time the SAD was proposed.

In the 2002 suit, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that there was some incomplete accounting in the original proposal to form the SAD. According to Larkin, the issue has been resolved this time around.