LV budget adds 64 positions
Funding for Metro rises; homeless courtyard featured
The Las Vegas City Council unanimously gave the green light Monday to a $1.5 billion budget that adds 64 positions to the city workforce, prioritizes programs for the homeless population and bumps up the Metropolitan Police Department’s funding.
Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, a member of the council since 2005, called the fiscal 2019 budget the “finest year” in terms of funding initiatives that meet the council’s requests.
“It’s so responsive,” Mayor Carolyn Goodman said. “You really have listened and done everything working us toward the goals of this community.”
Metro, which the city and Clark County jointly fund, asked the city for a 6.6 percent increase, putting the city’s contribution at nearly
$150 million.
The city and Clark County are also taking over funding crossing guards, and $1.7 million will transfer from Metro’s budget to the city’s budget. Over the next two years, the city will add 26 marshals to its force.
More than 67 percent of the city’s annual general fund dollars are devoted to public safety.
Initiatives aimed at curbing homelessness are a “key focus” in the budget, Chief Financial Officer Gary Ameling said.
The city is beginning its $10 million homeless courtyard project intended to provide a single location for people to access a wide range of services. Seven new positions to support homeless programs will come into the city’s workforce during the next fiscal year.
“We’ll be able to start encouraging them away from their little encampments in parks and to a place of safety,” Councilman Bob Coffin said.
The city will spend more than
$309 million on wages and benefits in the budget that will take effect
July 1, up from roughly $293 million this year. The city workforce will grow to 2,654 full-time positions.
The city’s overall spending is growing by 4.5 percent. General fund spending will grow from
$549 million to $574 million.
Upcoming city capital projects include a $15 million parking garage in the Medical District, a $12 million fire station replacement and a new downtown courthouse. After seeking bids for the $55 million courthouse, officials said last year they weren’t moving forward with the plans because they were contingent on Clark County buying the city out of the Regional Justice Center, where the city’s Municipal Court uses space. City and county officials couldn’t agree on a figure at that point.
A new courthouse is dependent on striking a deal with the county to buy the city out of its current space.
City officials are projecting a slight structural budget deficit starting in fiscal 2020, and City Manager Scott Adams has convened a team to brainstorm ways to craft a balanced budget a year in advance. Still, the projected deficit is about one-tenth of the deficit the city faced during the Great Recession, when officials were forced to make massive cuts.
“I don’t want to scare our employees. I don’t want anyone to think we’re back where we were,” Adams said. “This is very manageable.”
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @Journo_jamie_ on Twitter.