Budget woes: City ponders laying off 200

The city of Las Vegas is considering laying off about 200 employees to save roughly $19 million if needed to balance a budget that has been deeply affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

City officials notified its collective bargaining units Thursday, city spokesman David Riggleman said.

But even as the city stares down a projected $150 million budget shortfall over the next 14 to 18 months, Riggleman said it is hopeful that it can avoid layoffs.

“We’re encouraged by the participation and positive energy our collective bargaining units have shown in working toward a solution to our financial challenges,” Riggleman said in an email.

While conversations between the city and labor groups are ongoing, city officials were contractually obligated to notify the units that layoffs are being contemplated, even as a “last resort,” according to Riggleman.

“We’re going to do whatever we can to try to save jobs and minimize reduction in force as much as possible,” said Deandre Caruthers, president of the Las Vegas City Employees Association, the city’s largest union.

The LVCEA represents more than 1,300 classified city employees, or about half of the city’s workforce, spanning multiple city departments.

The cuts, if they do occur, would happen across the workforce, according to Riggleman.

Las Vegas is not alone in contemplating layoffs to deal with coronavirus-related financial difficulties. Statewide closures of nonessential businesses have battered local governments across the state.

Clark County Chief Financial Officer Jessica Colvin recently said the county could reduce salaries and benefits for county employees by 11 percent or eliminate 11 percent of the workforce, which equates to roughly 580 mostly unionized employees, in order to cover a $58.4 million revenue gap.

It is unclear what type of concessions may be being discussed in Las Vegas, which has not yet presented a tentative budget to the City Council for the coming fiscal year.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @SHEA_LVRJ on Twitter.