NLV gets break on pay raises for police

North Las Vegas' police union has agreed to defer a 4 percent annual cost-of-living increase to save the financially strapped city money, officials said Tuesday.

The 475 city police and corrections officers represented by the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association voted last week on the concessions.

Pending City Council approval, the raises scheduled for the fiscal year starting July 1 will be deferred to later years. The union's contract with the city, which expires in 2012, will be extended two years as part of the agreement.

Concessions also include a six-month deferral on clothing allowances and a deferral on sick leave "sell-back" for a year. Employees have the option of selling back to the city a portion of their unused sick leave each year.

The concessions will save $4.4 million in the upcoming fiscal year, the city said.

The employees' annual "step" raises, which average 5 percent, will not be affected.

The agreement will help the city continue to provide the "highest quality services to our community while remaining fiscally responsible," City Manager Gregory Rose said.

The president of the police union could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The city initiated talks with its three employee unions in late February as a way to save money in the face of declining tax revenues caused by the economic slowdown.

North Las Vegas has trimmed about $16 million from its 2008-09 budget. Its general fund operating budget is now $207.9 million.

The city's firefighters union, which represents 202 firefighters, voted this month to defer its 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase for a year, among other concessions, which will save about $1.5 million.

The firefighters' contract with the city also was extended as part of the agreement.

But the city's largest employee union, Teamsters Local 14, this month rejected a proposal to forgo a 4 percent cost-of-living increase to save the city about $4.4 million, saying the city wouldn't provide a guarantee against layoffs and had rushed union workers to vote on the concessions.

The City Council directed staffers to keep negotiating with the Teamsters in hopes of coming to an agreement.

The Teamsters represent 780 North Las Vegas employees in a variety of jobs ranging from secretaries to managers.

The city, which has 1,801 full-time employees, has said layoffs are possible if the union won't agree to concessions.

Several other local employee unions have agreed to concessions to save money.

City of Las Vegas employees agreed to have their cost-of-living raises reduced this year, while the union representing the city's police officers agreed to forgo theirs for a year.

Members of Clark County's Service Employees International Union Local 1107 also agreed to have their cost-of-living raises reduced and their merit raises capped at 4 percent instead of 5 percent.

The county's firefighters union has yet to make concessions.

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