Fee fight

In Nye County, the county government has been collecting money from marijuana shops in unincorporated towns.

Former Amargosa Valley Town Board member John Bosta read the statute that covers the matter and felt the county’s action in collecting the taxes and fees violates the law. The county disagreed and continued the practice.

The legislative counsel—lawyer to the Nevada Legislature—has now issued an opinion taking Bosta’s side. The county is mulling over the opinion. However, opinions issued by the legislative counsel are not binding on public agencies. They get their legal advice from elected district attorneys, the state attorney general or counsel of their own.

Bosta has quite a history. He’s currently in court challenging state water law on the basis of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which brought what is now Nevada into the union—and he organized an effort that led to an elected instead of appointed Amargosa town board.