North Las Vegas looking to add jobs in $614M budget

North Las Vegas plans to continue its economic recovery by adding more than 50 jobs in its proposed $614 million budget.

It may seem like a small feat, Chief Financial Officer Darren Adair said, but it represents a city with a troubled economic past moving in the right direction.

“And for many years, it wasn’t headed that direction,” Adair said. “I mean, we were shaving off (a) large number of employees and we were consolidating functions and we were basically trying to determine what things were critical and what things we could get by with putting off for a little bit longer.”

Now the city is working on sustainable growth and improving its services for residents. “It’s a different chapter for us,” Adair said.

The new positions are spread across many city departments, including the North Las Vegas Police Department, libraries and the city clerk’s office. Some current employees will also receive modest raises, Adair said.

During the historic economic downturn, North Las Vegas cut about half its staff. Since then, it has added scores of positions. The fiscal year 2020 budget represents the largest hiring spree since the layoff, City Manager Ryann Juden said.

The city sent to the state the $614 million tentative budget — which includes the redevelopment agency and library district — but did not hold a public hearing to review elements of the budget before the scheduled vote on Wednesday.

Officials said the fact that the budget is balanced and does not require cuts meant it was unnecessary to hold an open meeting to make funding choices.

North Las Vegas Chief of Staff Delen Goldberg said it is common practice for the city not to include the budget in the agenda’s backup materials, but that will change in the future. The city will also post future budgets on its website for public review, she said.

The city did, however, publish a public notice about its budget in the Las Vegas Review-Journal this month and made the document available at multiple public locations, she said.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.