Tentative Las Vegas budget restores some raises, services

Nevada's largest city finally is starting to recover from a recession that plunged governments across the state into financial crises, Las Vegas officials said Wednesday during a budget presentation.

That means there's money in the 2013 budget to restore some services lost to cuts during the Great Recession, although the city is years away from returning to its salad days when tax revenue was growing at near double-digit percentage rates.

"I feel like we are stabilizing," City Manager Betsy Fretwell told the City Council during a special budget meeting. "Our revenue recovery is not as robust as all of us would like to see happen, but at least they (revenues) are not dropping."

Fretwell presented a tentative general fund budget plan that identifies $454.2 million in revenue and proposes $464.6 million in spending, leaving a projected shortfall of $10.4 million that could be covered with reserve funds.

The council members voted unanimously to adopt the tentative spending plan.

About seven steps remain before a final budget is presented to the state Department of Taxation on June 1.

Highlights of the proposed budget include the following:

■ Restoring animal control workers to 40-hour weeks. They had been cut to 38.

■ Bringing back workers to clean parks on weekends

■ Making good on an agreement to restore some of the raises unionized workers had given up in recent years.

"We are happy that is the case, and we know the city can afford it," said Val Sharp, president of the Las Vegas City Employees Association.

Sharp said the city's gradual recovery from recession should be good for residents as well as workers. He said the city already has hired back about 50 of the approximately 120 members who lost their jobs to layoffs.

"We're the ones who fix the traffic lights. We're the ones who run the street sweepers. We're the ones who clean the park," Sharp said. "They have seen that has suffered."

In addition to the long-anticipated return of some pay raises, Fretwell told the council she would like to include another $1.3 million in the budget for pay-for-performance bonuses.

Fretwell said $300,000 could be used for executive and appointed staff who deserve one-time rewards for excellent service, and $1 million could go to unionized workers who go above and beyond the call of duty.

A bonus system for unionized workers, however, would first need to be negotiated.

"It would be kind of nice to be able to do something for people who have done a really good job," Fretwell said of the bonus money during an interview Tuesday.

City officials also plan to fund full staffing for a new fire station that would serve the Sun City area. The station was built to accommodate an ambulance in addition to fire coverage, but there had been fears the city would try to save money by not providing the ambulance service from the station.

According to projections provided to the council, consolidated tax revenue, which mostly comes from sales taxes, will increase 4.6 percent to $229 million. Property tax revenue is expected to decrease about 10 percent to $85.7 million.

Spending on wages and benefits is expected to increase to $252.4 million from $243 million. The general fund reserve balance is expected to fall from to $72 million from $82.4 million.

The tentative budget also includes a proposal to draw $13.5 million from a stabilization fund that had reached $50 million to pay off the debt on the parking garage under the Neonopolis building downtown.

By paying early, the city not only saves about $2.5 million in interest but also saves another $2.5 million annually it had been paying in debt service.

The payoff also makes it easier to put the garage up for sale because it will be unencumbered by public debt.

City officials also plan to spend money to attract new business. The tentative budget included $1 million in startup funds for a proposed new redevelopment area.

The redevelopment area, which still needs council approval to go forward, would be bounded by Decatur and Valley View boulevards in the west and east and Charleston Boulevard and Sahara Avenue in the north and south, Fretwell said.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@ reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.