Water authority adopts budget amid signs of recovery

A slightly slimmed down Southern Nevada Water Authority expects to bring in additional money and spend a little more of it in the coming year.

Authority board members approved a $463.3 million spending plan Thursday for the valley’s wholesale water supply agency. The new budget anticipates a $36.4 million jump in revenue and a $9.5 million increase in spending over the current budget.

The spending increase is mostly because of the rising cost of the agency’s debt, which totals more than $3 billion after a two-decade building binge to keep pace with the valley’s growth.

The authority also expects to spend more on electricity and other operating costs in the next year, but it will offset those increases by cutting construction spending by $17.2 million and payroll expenses by $2.6 million.

Much of the revenue increase, meanwhile, will come from a $17.6 million rise in connection charges paid by new homes and businesses and a $2.4 million increase in sales tax proceeds. Both are evidence of economic recovery in the region, water authority General Manager John Entsminger said.

But the agency is “still adjusting to the effects of the recession” and their changing roles in the post-boom era, he said. “It’s obviously been very challenging for the whole valley, and the water authority is no different.”

In early April, the authority and its largest member utility, the Las Vegas Valley Water District, laid off 101 full-time employees. Many of those cuts came through consolidating engineering staffs at the authority and the district into a single, smaller department.

In all, the authority lost 47 employees, and the district lost 54.

Entsminger said the cuts were necessary to streamline both agencies and prepare them for the transition from a construction-heavy “growth-support” mission to one focused on operations, maintenance and customer service.

“This was a sad thing that had to happen,” Las Vegas City Councilman and authority board member Bob Coffin said.

He said he has talked to a few employees who kept their jobs and now have “survivor’s guilt.” He asked Entsminger for a quick rundown of what the agencies have done for those who were laid off. Each received a severance package of salary and medical benefits through June 19 and access to a top job placement firm.

Clark County Commissioner and authority board member Steve Sisolak praised Entsminger, who, after just two months on the job, took “the initiative to make an adjustment that was overdue.”

The water district is set to approve its budget at 9:45 a.m. Monday, during a special meeting of the County Commission.

The district plans to spend $348.5 million in the coming year, an increase of $14.1 million over the current budget. Revenue also is projected to rise, though not by quite as much. Of the additional $12.5 million the district expects to bring in next year, most of it will come from connection charges for new service hook-ups, which are expected to triple next year.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find him on Twitter: @RefriedBrean.