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Las Vegas City Manager Betsy Fretwell this week unveiled a final budget reduction plan that will help the city meet an $80 million shortfall in Fiscal Year 2011, which starts on July 1. On Tuesday, May 18, the City Council will hold a Final Budget Hearing at 1:30 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers to discuss the issue further and vote on the budget recommendations.
The proposed budget plan, if approved by the City Council, would result in approximately 200 layoffs. This is about 60 more than first projected in March. The city has been unable to negotiate concessions from its four unions. Contractually, this means the city must continue to grant automatic pay raises and cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to those in the bargaining units. In short, the cost of labor will continue to climb, while city revenues continue to fall.
For more than six months, the city of Las Vegas has been gathering feedback from the public on the best ways to cope with an ever-increasing budget shortfall. Through 13 town hall meetings, a phone survey and focus groups the public told the city how it should deal with the budget woes. Based on that input, the city manager is proposing these additional cuts:
- A downsizing of the city jail.
- Rolling “brown outs” in the fire department, where at least three units taken out of service each day to save money. Initial response times won’t be impacted.
- Scaling back the Victim Witness Program.
- Eliminating the Leisure On The Go Program and the “Xtreme” Sports Unit.
- Increasing some fees and fines in the Municipal Court.
- Reducing regular maintenance of sports fields. This could mean displacement of some youth leagues.
- A downsizing of our records management team. This could mean delays in obtaining city documents.
- Privatizing the Amanda and Stacy Darling Dennis Center.
- Closing Community Schools. Safekey and track break/summer camps will remain but with increased fees.
On March 10, the council approved a tentative budget to address a shortfall in Fiscal Year 2011. Due to a slumping local economy, what was projected to be a $70 million shortfall has grown to about $80 million. In order to balance the budget and to gain a head start on the Fiscal Year 2012 budget, an additional $15 million in cuts are being proposed at tomorrow’s hearing. Unlike the federal government, the city cannot operate at a deficit, and must submit a balanced budget to the state each year.
The city is looking at about a $50 million shortfall in Fiscal Year 2012, which begins July 1, 2011. At tomorrow’s meeting the council will discuss plans for moving forward to deal with the projected shortfall next year.
A full list of the proposed final cuts is available on the city’s Web site at www.lasvegasnevada.gov/yourcity.
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