North Las Vegas budget includes addition of 57 critical jobs

North Las Vegas plans to hire 57 full-time employees over the next year to fill positions deemed critical as the city continues to slowly recover from a recession-driven freefall, according to a tentative budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

The Police Department will get 39 new officers, while the Community Development and Compliance, Public Works and Utilities departments will each get four new workers, North Las Vegas Finance Director Darren Adair told the City Council during a budget workshop Wednesday night.

Two new workers are slated to be hired for Adair’s Finance Department, while the City Attorney’s Office, City Clerk, Library and Neighborhood Services Department will each get one new employee.

There were 134 additional city jobs still considered to be needed, but Adair said the city needed an additional $6.1 million to fill those positions, including 39 new firefighters and another 40 police officers.

North Las Vegas had a high of roughly 2,200 workers in 2006, which plummeted to 1,100 by 2014 as city officials cut their way to solvency after the recession hit. The city is slowly restoring many of those lost positions with a current workforce of about 1,300 employees.

Over the past four years, the City Council reduced North Las Vegas’ long-term deficit from $172 million to $23 million. It was unclear Wednesday how much farther that deficit might be reduced.

“The most frequent question I have been asked this year by employees, citizens and other stakeholders is ‘Are we there yet?’” Adair said. “If the goal is financial and service level stability, we are not there yet.”

North Las Vegas’ general fund is expected to increase to $137.1 million, paying for day-to-day expenses for the fiscal year that begins July 1, according to the preliminary budget approved Wednesday by the City Council. The largest chunk, accounting for one-third of the budget, will go toward the police and fire departments.

The city is projected to generate $137.56 million in revenue, with most of the money coming from consolidated taxes, licenses and permit fees.

The City Council is scheduled to discuss the 2017-18 budget further, with possible adoption during a meeting set for 6 p.m. May 17 at City Hall.

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.