Comments (41) | Add a comment
It's crunch time for North Las Vegas budget
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
North Las Vegas city staffers have two weeks to come up with a new budget-cutting plan to avoid a financial emergency and a potential state takeover of the cash-strapped city's finances.
During a bleak Wednesday night meeting, City Council members directed staff to bring back a plan that makes $8.6 million in cuts to the fiscal 2012 budget.
It's "a pretty grim picture," said Al Noyola, acting director of administrative services and finance for the city. "There's not a whole lot left" to cut.
The City Council could be asked to choose from options including the following:
■ Privatizing the city's utility functions and selling the city's new $300 million wastewater treatment plant, which is caught up in a federal lawsuit.
■ Laying off the city's remaining nonpublic safety staff of up to 167 people, which probably would result in the closure of parks, pools and other city facilities.
■ Selling the yet-to-open, $130 million City Hall and leasing it back from the buyer.
■ Outsourcing parks and building maintenance and legal, payroll and custodial services.
■ Refinancing existing bond debts.
The city also could raise property taxes on its residents, who already pay the highest taxes in the valley.
North Las Vegas' original 2012 budget, approved in May, included cuts to cover a $30.3 million shortfall. The cuts included slashing 258 positions across city departments, including those of police officers and firefighters, unless concessions could be reached with the city's employee unions. Mayor Shari Buck, who has said she would not support more cuts to public safety, was the only council member to vote against the budget.
Police union officials said the loss of more officers would leave the city unsafe and posted billboards around the city stating so. Police Chief Joseph Chronister said that his department was already understaffed and that layoffs would make it harder for police to do their jobs.
The 2012 budget was thrown into disarray last week when the Police Officers Association won a court decision that prohibited the city from proceeding with layoffs of nearly 40 union members, including a dozen police officers. The city's firefighters union also has filed a lawsuit to halt the layoffs of 35 of its members. Because the firefighters union contract, as amended earlier this year, contains language nearly identical to that of the police officers union, the city expects to have to add those positions back to its budget too. That means North Las Vegas has to look elsewhere for the $8.6 million it would have saved with those public safety cuts.
Otherwise, the city would have to declare a severe financial emergency, which would trigger state intervention into the city's financial management.
The city already has been talking informally with officials from the state Department of Taxation. Those officials have promised that if they have to take over the city's finances, their first step will be to raise taxes on residents "to the maximum extent" allowable under the law, Noyola said.
"I sure hope there's a pot of gold because I haven't seen it," he said.
Buck said the city will do what it must to avoid state intervention.
"We made a commitment to the state and to our legislators that we were not going to let" the state take over, she said. "We're not going to let that happen."
Councilwoman Anita Wood responded: "You're certainly more positive than I am, mayor."
Councilman Robert Eliason suggested that someone from the Department of Taxation speak to the council about what state intervention would look like.
"We need to have a public discussion about this," he said. "We've got to start ... working on the facts and start working together to pull this thing back together."
But the city must act quickly. Fiscal year 2012 started July 1. For every week cuts are delayed, the city falls another $165,000 into the hole, officials said.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to come out of this and find solutions to keep the city functioning," Noyola said.
The city has an ending fund balance of $7.2 million -- about 4.8 percent -- which is enough to make one payroll.
"We don't have a lot of time," said Maryann Ustick, acting city manager.
The city has experienced plummeting property tax and other revenues during the economic slump. It has gone through several rounds of budget cuts since late 2008 and eliminated or frozen about 1,000 positions.
In June, 188 workers were laid off. Another 44, all North Las Vegas Detention Center workers, were let go in October after the jail lost about a third of its inmates to a new lockup for federal inmates in Pahrump.
This city employs about 1,300 people.
Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.
Trending topics:
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
The time to act is now!! Kill the Cancer!! Get into new blood, layoff as many as needed, stop all spending, cut wages etc. NOW! Once that has been achived, hire back only necessary personal. A hard bullet to bite. STOP! dancing around and playing with peoples emotions. DO THE JOB YOU ARE HIRED TO DO!!!
Don't bother answering my question KnowsBetter. It is moot. A little birdie just told me that Vaskov has resigned.
What about the three (3) Supreme Court Justices who just ruled that Officer Ruiz has standing to bring an action against the City because some IA Lieutenant (who is now a Captain) decided that it would be clever to eavesdrop on an interview with a hidden camera? Are the Supreme's bought and paid for by the unions also? Or is it that Managment's ego is writing checks your finance department can't cash. I think that Noyola dude needs to start digging into his pocket a little deeper.
KnowsBetter: Is Judge Williams who just issued an injunction ordering the City to return an Officer to work with 3 years of backpay and benefits "crooked" also? Or does Noyola who orchestrated the firing responsible? You deserve Noyola. Its your neighbors I feel sorry for.
OK dummie. An MOU is considered a modification of a collective bargaining agreement and IS a contract. And to answer your question, the matter was heard in District Court, not North Las Vegas Muni Court because it is the DISTRICT COURT that has jurisdiction over contract cases in excess of $7,500. A City is answerable before a District Court for breach of contract like any other citizen. There is no sovereign immunity for contract claims. Satisfied? Now answer MY question as to why the City is spending money to pay outside lawyers? Why can't Nicholas Vaskov handle the POA's counsel? Is it because he knew that the only one in the City Attorney's office with half a brain, Noel Eidsmore, was leaving to go back to the firm NLV recruited him from?
Sincerely33...you are right about the Local 14 taking a major paycut to save jobs, they also made many other concessions including agreeing to no pay raises for at least the next couple of years. You are wrong about one thing though...there are people who were hired before 2004 who work very hard there, not all, but there are many hardworking court clerks down there. I could name several names of worthless employees who sit at their desk on Facebook and socializing all day there as well. The first people who need to go in the court are the "supervisors" of each department who literally do nothing all day except sit in their offices and collect special overtime and make much more than the average joe whilst they gossip with one another accomplishing nothing in the work day. You know who you are.
Also, Sheriff Einstein regardles of what your bought and paid for judge says, a Memorandum of Understanding is not a "contract," it's a memorandum? An Employment contract is generally considered a "contract." And despite what you may think, just because you keep repeating something in the comment section, that does not make it somehow come true! At least in the real world the rest of us non-hero's live in? C'mone threaten me now, call me a dummie of something! I can take it.
Despite little police-boy Jackie's childish tantrum, I'll ask again, How can some crooked judge, who doesn't even live in North Las Vegas, have authority to tell the North Las Vegas Council, the people who were specifically elected by the voters in North Las Vegas to make all decisions regarding the City of North Las Vegas, to make some unfundable mandate on the voters of North Las Vegas? WHY DO WE NEED ANY CITY COUNCIL ANYWHERE? When the crooked unions can just pay-off some dirty judge, who does not pay taxes in North Las Vegas, to tell you otherwise? Why do City Council's exist if this even remotely legal? I'll ask again. WHY IS THERE A CITY COUNCIL IN EVERY CITY IN THE U.S. WHEN YOU CAN BUY A DIFFERENT DECISION IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE CITY COUNCIL'S DECISION?
130 million dollar new city hall? 300 million dollar new wastewater plant? Why is North Las Vegas in trouble? Oh thats right, the unions did it. You kooky people make me laugh. This right wing blog only tells the truth, usually about 5% of it.
KnowsBetter: You know nothing. It was not a crooked judge. It was a stupid City Attorney's Office who advised the City that it could just ignore a contract. They got their clocks cleaned by the POA's attorney who is a hell of alot smarter than the City Attorney or their hired outside council. And speaking of which, why is the City PAYING an outside attorney to represent them? If Vaskov can't do it on his salary, maybe he needs to be the one laid off.