Sheriff proposes $515 million budget for Las Vegas police

Sheriff Doug Gillespie made it clear Monday to the Metropolitan Police Committee on Fiscal Affairs that he believes his department needs to expand its budget to continue safe policing levels in the valley.

Gillespie presented a tentative budget request for $515 million -- a 2.87 percent increase from the current year to be used for operational costs affected in part by slumping property tax revenues.

That could make the department the only law enforcement agency in the valley to expand its budget. Henderson police are still in cutting mode while North Las Vegas will have no significant increases or changes to its police budget.

The proposed increase gained some panel support, but committee members said they're waiting for Clark County and city of Las Vegas officials, staff and management to meet with the sheriff to fine tune the details.

"As your sheriff, I don't believe the appropriate position into the future is to cut more positions or to allow positions not to be filled," Gillespie said. "We're going to have to find other ways."

That could include reorganizing internally, cutting capital expenditures, continuing collective bargaining with police unions, and further limiting public hours at the records bureau, he added.

Gillespie said he is interested in seeking an additional quarter-cent sales tax increase from the Legislature next year to hire more police officers. The number of officers per capita has dropped from 2.06 per thousand residents to 1.91 per thousand and could continue to decrease, he said.

The four-member Fiscal Affairs Committee, which is composed of representatives from the city and county who control police spending, did not take action on the request. The board is scheduled to receive the final budget report in April.

State law dictates the Police Department's funding formula, which requires the county to contribute 62.2 percent, or $198 million, to the police budget while the city pays 37.8 percent, or $120 million, for a total of $318 million. Another $108 million is expected to come from two voter-approved property tax ballot questions. That figure is $10 million less in total property tax revenues caused by an economic slump that local governments still have not recovered from.

"I believe the city and the county have to look at their obligations and understand that the reductions that have been made in years past cannot continue," Gillespie said.

The department plans to fill a $57 million budget gap for fiscal year 2012-13 with fund balance and capital project funds -- leaving an end fund balance of $4.9 million, 1 percent of its budget.

County Commissioner Larry Brown, a member of the Fiscal Affairs Committee, said he was comfortable with the tentative budget and that the challenge lies ahead in the 2013-14 budget.

"The last two cycles have been balanced off the depletion of our reserves, significantly," Brown said.

"We're living and have lived off our savings account, which is now gone," Brown said. "A lot of dialogue in this next 90-day window will focus on ... what has the sheriff done to maximize efficiencies within the department? This budget is doable. With some hard questions and some minor adjustments, this will move forward."

County Commissioner Steve Sisolak said finding places to cut in the budget will be challenging as 86 percent is labor cost. The officers pay scale ranges from $24.60 to $38.05 per hour, plus overtime, shift and assignment differential pay and benefits.

Councilman Ricki Barlow, another committee member, said absorbing the costs would be difficult.

"We would have to work collectively ... to see where and how much we can absorb of those costs if any at all," Barlow said.

Over the past four years, the request said, the department has reduced its staff by 238 commissioned police officers, 235 civilian positions and 11 temporary positions. The total number of budgeted full-time positions in the request is 2,194 commissioned officers and 1,267 civilians.

In October, the committee approved a two-year labor contract with the Las Vegas Police Protective Association that eliminated longevity pay for new hires. Members of the state's largest police union saw longevity increases at 0.25 percent, down from 0.5 percent in the previous contract. Under the agreement, merit increases were 1 percent in the first year and 3 percent in the second year, down from 4 percent.

Last week, the County Commission approved a joint plan with Las Vegas to divvy up the percentage of certain police costs. The county will take on more of the uniform and investigative costs than in years past while the city will pick up most of the tab on community services.