Clark County, Las Vegas reach deal on election costs, fire protection fees

Clark County will charge the city of Las Vegas roughly $1 million less than it would have for each of the next four odd-year municipal elections, in exchange for the city waiving fire protection fees called for under a decades-old agreement.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved an interlocal agreement the Clark County Commission ratified Tuesday, calling for the city to pay the county a flat $250,000 for each odd-year city primary and general election through the 2023 election cycle. For municipal elections that are not citywide, the cost will be $42,000 per ward appearing on the ballot.

In the event of a recall or special election, the city will pay the county the actual cost to conduct the election.

County estimates had pegged the potential annual election cost to the city at up to $1.5 million for both primary and general elections in the future. Under the new agreement, the most the city will pay the county for each of the next four election cycles is $500,000.

The 2011 Las Vegas citywide election cost was $460,000. In 2013 and 2015, the city only had primary elections, which cost $150,000 and $260,000, respectively, city CFO Mark Vincent said.

In exchange, the City Council is forgiving $4.8 million it says the county owes the city stemming from a 1985 mutual aid fire protection agreement. The city’s fire department provides services to islands of unincorporated county land surrounded by city limits.

The city wasn’t billing the county for much of the time that agreement was in place, and the city began billing the county over the past several years.

The $4.8 million is the amount city officials arrived at for what the county owed the city during the period it started billing — some of the fees from back years were beyond the statute of limitations, Vincent said.

Council members, with the exception of Councilman Bob Coffin, voted to call it even Wednesday.

Coffin isn’t comfortable with a statute of limitations when one government owes another, he said.

“The county ignored us,” Coffin said.

City officials over the years weren’t keeping tabs on the agreement and how much money was owed, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman countered.

“This is a positive statement,” Goodman said.

County commissioners unanimously voted in favor of the interlocal agreement at their meeting Tuesday.

“This is a first attempt to do more collaboration with the city on projects or issues that affect both of us,” commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said Wednesday. “We need to not be playing tug of war with those folks. We need to be moving in the same direction to provide the best services (to residents).”

If the city aligned its election dates with the county’s, it would lower the cost of holding municipal elections to nothing, county staff report.

The City Council has been presented with that idea but has yet to formally take up the issue.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said she hoped the city would do so.

“I do believe the city should go on the same calendar of the county’s general election format,” she said.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter. Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.