Budget dismays county officials

No layoffs.

It was one bright spot that Clark County commissioners saw in the nearly $1.5 billion general fund budget they passed Monday for 2008-09.

Much of the time, they expressed frustration at having little leeway to increase staffing and fund projects in the face of a growing population's demand for more amenities.

The most impassioned grumbling came from Commissioner Tom Collins, who bemoaned a lack of resources to fix roads, buildings and other infrastructure.

"How do we turn it around and start doing something better instead of doing something less?" Collins said.

Despite their dissatisfaction, all six commissioners who were present approved the budget. Commissioner Bruce Woodbury was absent.

The biggest bite came out of the capital-improvement fund, from which $70.7 million was diverted to help cover increased operating costs. That left about $40 million to pay for capital projects -- such as upgrading roads and parks -- a steep decline from the $137 million in last year's budget.

"A pretty dramatic reduction in the amount of available money for capital (improvement)," said George Stevens, the county's finance director.

In April, county staff estimated that $550 million was needed to make all of the upgrades.

Collins asked how the county might generate more revenue to cover growing costs.

Stevens replied the county lacked the authority to raise taxes without the state's consent.

Collins fired back that the county should be able to impose fines on businesses that violate the terms of their licenses. And he questioned why impact fees, which would create revenue, have yet to be established, though he requested them three years ago.

Commissioner Chip Maxfield said he shared Collins' frustration but viewed the task of choosing which services to fund as a normal part of the job.

"You'd like to accomplish all this, but you only have so many dollars," Maxfield said. "You've got to weigh which is the highest priority."

Total revenue climbed by 5.8 percent, according to a budget summary. Last year at this time, the county's general fund had grown by 14 percent from the previous year.

Officials place the blame for the county's waning revenue growth partly on a slowdown in home building and on the state's $900 million shortfall, causing some funding from Carson City to shrink.

What increase there was in current general fund revenues came from an increase in property tax revenues attributable to assessed valuation growth, according to the budget summary.

Commissioners never discussed a labor contract they approved last year that gave county employees an average of 7 percent to 8 percent yearly pay raises for merit and cost of living through 2010.

The county will fork out an estimated $23.2 million this year to cover the raises and roughly $19 million in each of the next two years.

Last year, the average wage for a full-time county employee was almost $53,000. It would rise to about $60,000 in two years at the current pace.

To cover the $60 million spent last year to bail out University Medical Center, the county will leave some 350 jobs vacant.

But 310 jobs will be created, including 90 from the general fund. The other 220 will be paid for by other means.

Eighty-six of the general fund jobs will be added to courts in part to meet a state mandate. Parks and recreation will get the remaining four.

About $11.8 million will be earmarked to hire 125 workers for a new detention center for low-level offenders. The county will lease the building for $12 million annually for 10 years.

Forty-three jobs will be added to Family Court and 13 to child welfare. Commissioner Susan Brager said she was glad to see money allocated to help children.

"If we don't start with our children, we may as well not do anything," Brager said.

Leonard Cash, the county parks and recreation director, said 17 workers must patrol almost 90 parks. With no new hires coming, he has asked whether Las Vegas police could monitor the county's largest parks.

Commissioner Lawrence Weekly said the park police being strapped is another sign that the county was wrestling with a tight budget. Difficult choices must be made, he said.

"It all boils down to what are we willing to give up?" Weekly said. "A priority list is very important."

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani argued that deteriorating roads, especially in rural areas, should be a priority because people need to get to and from work.

"If we allow roads to crumble, it's going to cost more in the long run to get them fixed," she said.

Both she and Collins expressed disappointment in the budget.

"We're doing a whole lot with less, but we're doing it slower," Collins said. "I don't really want to vote for this budget, even though I appreciate the hard work everyone did to try to make it work." In the end, he voted "yes."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.