Sheriff unveils tentative budget, 4.8 percent less

Saying he wanted to "be part of the solution rather than be part of the problem," Sheriff Doug Gillespie on Monday unveiled his agency's $523 million tentative budget, a 4.8 percent drop from the year before.

The Metropolitan Police Department Committee on Fiscal Affairs, which includes Las Vegas city council members and Clark County commissioners, will vote in April on the final budget for the 2011 fiscal year.

The city and county, which fund about 70 percent of the Police Department's budget, each had their contributions cut about 5 percent.

The agency made $26 million in cuts throughout the department. It also will use budget reserves to help cover a $26 million shortfall in property tax revenue so the city and county won't have to fill that funding gap.

The budget doesn't include layoffs, but it will eliminate 172 positions, including 30 police officer jobs that are now vacant. Another 10 police officer jobs funded by the More Cops sales tax will be kept vacant to avoid any issues of supplanting the general fund, which is prohibited under state law.

Other cost savings will come from trimming the hours that substations are open to the public, including closing on weekends and holidays, reducing helicopter flight time by four hours a day and putting more miles on unmarked cars and motorcycles before replacing them.

Concessions by the Police Department's three employee unions are also possible, Gillespie said.

Negotiations with the unions began earlier this month.

Gillespie said he has not taken two consecutive pay raises and has taken a 5 percent pay cut.