Boulder City budget near $22.8 million

Boulder City will reduce spending by more than $1.6 million over the next year under the budget approved by council members Tuesday morning.

The almost $22.8 million spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 includes a number of cuts meant to offset declining revenue, but the city of about 17,000 people still plans to dip into its reserves by about $780,000.

"We're facing the same challenges as other cities," said Boulder City Manager Vicki Mayes.

Boulder City's current budget, as approved last May, calls for $24.4 million in spending through June 30.

As part of the cuts for the coming budget year, some city employees agreed to smaller cost of living raises than were promised in their union contracts. Department heads and administrators agreed to forgo cost of living raises altogether.

The move is expected to save roughly $350,000 in the coming year.

The cuts come on top of $1.6 million that was trimmed from the current budget in December, after revenue came in about $1.8 million short of projections.

The city also plans to leave vacant positions open and shift employees around as much as possible to avoid laying off any full-time workers between now and June 30, 2010. Even a small reduction in force can have a big impact on services in a community the size of Boulder City, Mayes said.

"We can't lay off one person in a department or we might not have a department," she said.