With baby steps over, city starts real cuts to budget, services

The easy decisions were made months ago. The painless trimming is over.

Today at City Hall, the real work begins.

With the Las Vegas unemployment rate officially at 13.8 percent and the real job-loss impact in Southern Nevada perhaps twice that high, officials are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. with the City Council for a deceptively titled budget workshop.

Maybe "budget butcher shop" was already taken.

In previous years, the process was nearly stress-free. The finance director and city manager make a presentation to the mayor and council for the purpose of preparing a tentative balanced budget to submit to the state. Growth indicators up, revenue up, budget up: Las Vegas was looking up.

During those boom times, city officials used calculators to plan the budget. Faced with a $70 million shortfall and plummeting tax revenue indicators, they're now using large erasers and recently announced the expected layoff of 171 employees and the elimination of 44 other positions. City officials, including Mayor Oscar Goodman, have called for employees to accept an 8 percent pay cut in order to save jobs.

So far, the leaders of the city's unions haven't beaten a path to City Manager Betsy Fretwell's door. I bet they eventually will. If labor organizations allow 171 employees to be sacked, they're asking for more than dissension in the ranks. They're asking for revolt.

The problem for both labor and management in Las Vegas 2010 is simple: There's nothing to be gained from employing the traditional negotiating techniques. Economic forecasters agree the available revenue is going away and isn't returning any time soon. That's a self-evident truth that eventually will have to be acknowledged by every employee group -- including those representing police and firefighters. Prepare to make cuts, or start planning the going-away parties.

For citizens, the city's expected cuts in staff and programs initially will mean fewer recreation choices and shorter hours of service. The changes might not be noticeable at first, but don't be surprised to see more graffiti in public places and shabbier parks.

For many city officials, much-maligned folks who take pride in the community, the revenue drain will mean deferring their dream of a better Las Vegas where parks are prevalent and programs are available to the poor, disabled, elderly and working class.

"In order to balance our budget, there are going to be service impacts to the community," Fretwell says.

The recreational programs at middle school gyms will be abbreviated, Fretwell says. City officials are working to ensure the Rainbow Company and the Las Vegas Youth Orchestra are allowed to remain at Reed Whipple Center for at least another year. They appear safe for now.

The city has added 800 acres of parks in the past decade, but the days of growth are over.

"We are going to begin to see and feel what our service levels are like going forward, and I for one feel like it's sad," Fretwell says. "There are a lot of things we've worked very hard to provide to this community in a very responsible way and responsive way."

The city plans to trim its budget to 2005 levels, which might sound austere. Just don't ask Fretwell about the future. Revenue projections could make the budget butcher shop of 2010 appear downright civilized.

It's not the end of the road for Las Vegas, just the start of a new era that, I suspect, will see city officials redefine the word "austerity" several times as the troubled community of Las Vegas struggles and tax revenues drain from the valley. The real work begins today at City Hall.

Want to know the harshest part of all?

We could look back in two years and consider these the good old days.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.