Many cities and regional entities have had to chip away at their budgets since the Nevada Legislature closed its 2009 session. One lingering effect of the session could mean that the proposed Sparks Justice Court, originally destined for Spanish Springs, will take a hammer to its financial gut.

The Legislature approved a tax grab from Washoe County, which dug into the county’s capital projects fund. That fund had money set aside for the future 44,000-square foot justice court.

In preparation for the project, $13.9 million in debt was approved in 2004. The county has been using the money in its capital projects fund to pay that off. The money was previously replenished by capital building property taxes. However, because of the legislative grab, no new money will appear in the fund for a while, meaning a dried up pool of money to fund the bond debt and subsequent courthouse construction.

According to staff reports, debt service on the bonds for the next two years is $8.1 million.

Seeing as this $8.1 million has to come from the capital projects coffers, the county proposed that the Sparks Justice Court project take on an $8.1 million budget decrease — shrinking it from a $21.2 million courthouse to a $13.1 million courthouse.

PENTA Building Group has been heading up construction for the project. Representatives have suggested to the commission in written proposals that the least they can build the courthouse for is $20 million, adding that timing could be flexible to “help ease the costs.”

Washoe County commissioners were set to vote on the courthouse funding problem on Tuesday. However, the meeting ran late into the evening hours and commissioners had not heard the item as of press time.

The original cost estimate for the project was more than $24 million.