More than half of Clark County budget expected to go to public safety

About half of general fund expenditures will be spent on public safety, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County Detention Center, according to a budget presentation the County Commission received Wednesday morning.

Revenue to the general fund is expected to increase by nearly $42 million during the coming fiscal year. Specifically, property tax revenue is budgeted to increase by $9.8 million.

“There’s been a tremendous amount of growth throughout Clark County,” County Manager Yolanda King told commissioners during the presentation on the county’s tentative budget

Still, the county will spend about $14.6 million more than it takes in. The tentative budget states total revenue for the general fund will be around $1.314 billion.

STAFF ADDITIONS

County staff hopes to spend $24.1 million in fiscal year 2018 to fill 287 positions spread across its 38 departments.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said she wanted to include hiring additional code enforcement officers, animal control officers and park police.

The presentation included a Metro request for 67 additional officers — a $10.3 million increase from the $568.2 million budget proposed at a Metropolitan Police Committee on Fiscal Affairs meeting last month. The proposed budget already included a $16 million increase over the current fiscal year to fund 67 new civilian positions.

Commissioners were told the additional request is necessary to reach the department’s goal of having two officers for every 1,000 residents to keep pace with an increase in county population estimates. The county this year implemented a 0.1 percentage point sales tax increase to hire more police officers in order to hit that officer-to-resident ratio and have a dedicated force for the resort corridor.

The budget proposal also included a request to fund 36 corrections positions at a cost of about $3.6 million for the Clark County Detention Center for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The county jail is operating at a projected $5.3 million structural deficit and has a problem with overtime pay, King told commissioners.

The jail in downtown Las Vegas is being renovated, forcing hundreds of inmates to be housed at the north valley jail complex, which is not staffed regularly and relies on guards who are on overtime. The detention services division has been paying roughly $800,000 to $1 million in overtime per pay period this fiscal year, according to the budget presentation.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told police leaders during his State of the Department address in February that fully staffing the north valley jail complex was one of his goals for 2017. But that goal was met with some resistance Wednesday.

Giunchiliani said she thought the goal was to incorporate more diversion programs and said there should be a “policy discussion” about expanding detention services.

“If you have it, you tend to fill it,” she said.

FUTURE DEBT

The county has approximately $2.6 billion of outstanding debt in bonds and is considering issuing at least $1.6 billion in additional bond debt over the next three years.

The new bonds would fund transportation projects on the Strip, recreational facilities and the county’s portion of a potential football stadium.

And with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority hoping the county will issue a general obligation revenue bond to help fund its expansion, county CFO Jessica Colvin said staff is working to ensure the county’s AA+ credit rating from Standard and Poor’s won’t be downgraded.

“We will be contemplating how much we can provide for their debt issuance that would not jeopardize our current credit rating or increase the cost of issuing county-related project debt,” she said.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter. Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0391. Follow @WesJuhl on Twitter.