Las Vegas, North Las Vegas consolidation efforts endorsed

The mayors and city councils of two neighboring cities sat side by side Wednesday to talk about ways to save money by sharing services in a down economy.

Officials from Las Vegas and North Las Vegas held a joint meeting to discuss consolidating certain city services and listen to suggestions about how best to do so.

"This is a historic meeting," North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck said at the start of the meeting in a city library. "This is the first time our two councils have gotten together to have a discussion like this."

By combining services in seven areas, the cities could save a combined $4.2 million to $5.6 million per year, according to a consultant's report.

The cities would potentially save the most by combining services in three areas: the Safekey before- and after-school program, purchasing, and detention center support services -- such as food preparation, laundry and medical care, according to the consultant, Management Partners.

Other areas of potential savings were workers' compensation administration, radio maintenance, fire plans check and fire code enforcement, and maintenance of traffic signals, street lights and other lighting.

Savings would come from lowering administrative or management costs or by using economies of scale, such as with purchasing.

Still, consolidation is not a panacea, the report warns: "When it comes to municipal services, bigger may sometimes be better, but not always. And for some services, increasing size may introduce inefficiencies."

All of the council members expressed support for sharing services where practical.

"We should have been doing this a long time ago," Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross said, adding he would like to be "aggressive" when it comes to consolidating services.

Sharing services would bring "the strengths of both cities to light," said North Las Vegas Councilwoman Anita Wood.

Council members said they'd also support exploring consolidation of certain information technology and business licensing functions.

The two councils voted unanimously to develop cost-sharing agreements for the two cities.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.