Cash-strapped North Las Vegas plans balanced budget

Picture the city of North Las Vegas as a plane, a plane that a year ago was in such a tailspin the state was poised to push out the pilots.

Over the year, the city avoided plummeting to the ground and a state takeover through hard-nosed bargaining with its unions and the fortunate settlement of a large lawsuit. The city balanced its budget like it said it would and, in a presentation to the North Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday, North Las Vegas Finance Director Darren Adair said a balanced budget also is planned for the upcoming fiscal year.

But avoiding hitting the ground doesn’t mean the plane is safe, Adair said. The plane’s flying, but it’s low to the ground, and the city needs to gain altitude to avoid the trees that are ahead in 18 months as the deficit steadily goes up as expected.

“We are not equaling our growth?” Councilman Wade Wagner asked, seeking to clarify whether incoming revenue covers the city’s expenditures.

That’s correct, Adair said. The city is getting close, but a challenge is still ahead.

The issue is that North Las Vegas got addicted to pulling from reserve funds, Adair said. For example: When an employee leaves, they get certain payouts for things such as banked vacation time. If an employee doesn’t take a holiday, the city is supposed to set that money aside, but what can happen — and happened in North Las Vegas’ case — is the agency pulls from that reserve money to pay for other expenses. And when the time comes to pay for what that money is supposed to be for, it isn’t there.

Adair said he is working to wean the city off that practice and build reserve funds.

“Are we still cash-strapped North Las Vegas — the phrase that has been labeled on like a tattoo — yeah we still are,” Adair said.

But while Adair doesn’t want praise for the achievement, a balanced budget is good news, he said, and two years in a row no less.

While North Las Vegas’ financial outlook remains dire, the city reported in August that it had cut its projected long-term deficit almost in half, reducing it from $152.5 million to $74 million.

The city’s efforts also earned recognition recently. The Nevada Taxpayers Association in February gave North Las Vegas the Cashman Good Government Award, which the city’s news release said “recognizes state and local government employees who make strong and consistent efforts to spend taxpayer dollars wisely and efficiently.”