County commissioners OK budget, say salaries must be better controlled

Clark County commissioners, while approving a spending plan for next year, said Monday the county has to stop living this way.

Commissioners approved a $1.326 billion general fund budget for fiscal year 2013, down about $24.6 million from this year's budget as a result of slumping property tax revenues. The general fund, funded with taxes and fees, covers daily operations.

That compares to actual spending of $1.177 billion budgeted for fiscal year 2013 to this year's estimated $1.169 billion. Actual spending does not include the ending fund balance, which is carried over from year to year.

Even after rounds of layoffs and cuts to services, employee salaries and benefits remain some of the highest in the country - a point of contention for some commissioners who say it's difficult to justify pay increases when fewer services are provided.

Commissioners Steve Sisolak, a longtime critic of what he calls out-of-control employee salary growth, and Larry Brown, historically a strong supporter of public employee unions, both said that although the increases have been smaller than in years past, they're still pay raises in the eyes of the public dealing with cuts to services and commissioners trying to keep the county operating.

"Something has to give here," Sisolak said. "The money is being spent on salaries and wages, and the concern is revenues are still decreasing."

The budget accounts for a $19 million decline in property tax revenues.

Taxpayers are still feeling the financial pinch, he added.

"You're dealing with the general public who is used to getting paid a salary," Sisolak said. "They don't get all these different things. In the private sector, either you get a raise or you don't. They don't have merit and COLA (cost of living) and longevity."

Brown commended public employees and county management for negotiating agreements over the past few years that helped the county survive the recession. But there's a new economic reality that requires creating a public employee who won't receive the same benefits and salary package as his predecessors, he said.

"(People) still view these salaries and benefits as a pay raise," said Brown, who was endorsed by unions during his 2008 campaign. "We're giving our employees pay raises and cutting back on everything else. ... Now it comes down to what do we do? Cut programs and services or potentially cut employees?"

The county has tried to deal with those costs by freezing merit and longevity pay for one to two years in most of its union contracts, eliminating longevity pay for new hires and negotiating longer term deals.

More than 60 percent of the budget pays for employee compensation - 41 percent for salaries and 21.5 percent for benefits - according to George Stevens, the county's chief financial officer.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank based in Las Vegas, examined the salaries and benefits of more than 121,000 workers last year in 45 Nevada government jurisdictions at state, county and city levels and found that local government employees are paid better than their state counterparts because they can bargain collectively. For example, a chief deputy district attorney in Clark County makes $155,607 a year compared to the Nevada attorney general, who makes $140,389 in base salary.

A Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce study found that the state's public workers were the ninth highest paid nationwide, receiving average annual pay of $56,872 in 2009.

That was 13 percent higher than the national average of $50,187. But the study found that Nevada ranked last in the number of public workers per capita, with 43.6 for every 1,000 residents in 2009.

Commissioners on Monday also eliminated 346 vacant positions that have been empty for more than a year because of retirements and workforce reductions. Since Feb. 1, 2011, the county has eliminated 972 vacant positions.