Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City approve their budgets

City councils in Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City on Tuesday unanimously approved operating budgets for fiscal year 1999-2000.

Henderson's budget for the fiscal year, which begins July 1, is up by more than 10 percent, while the same budget for North Las Vegas is only up by 3.8 percent. Boulder City falls in between with a 7.8 percent increase.

Budget managers for all three cities say the increases are tied to the valley's growth, with inflation being almost negligible.

Operating budgets plan for traditional city services, such as fire and police, public works and parks and recreation.

HendersonIn Henderson for the first time, a budget committee was formed with representatives from each of the city's departments. The committee worked with Richard Derrick, hired in February as the city's first budget manager, to come up with a budget for the city's ever-increasing population.

The budget manager and committee became necessary as the city grew to about 170,000 residents in 1999, an increase of about 100,000 since 1990. In 1998, the population was just under 160,000.

Derrick, former Clark County School District budget director, said the city's general operating funds for the current fiscal year -- which ends June 30 -- are anticipated to increase by 10.1 percent.

Derrick said the growth of the general fund is a direct result of the city's growth in population and valuation in relation to the city's construction boom.

The increases are across the board and driven by the sheer volume of growth, Derrick said.

"It's not because of a tax increase, it's because of the volume of people moving here," he said.

Finance Director Steve Hanson said 71 percent of the city's almost $227 million in expenditures will go toward salaries.

One of the biggest expenditures in the proposed budget is public safety, one of the priorities determined by the budget committee, Derrick said.

"We're opening two new fire stations in 2000, and we had to staff those as well as a new emergency-response unit," he said, referring to the stations under construction at Lake Las Vegas and Green Valley Ranch.

In addition to 36 new fire positions and 12 new police officers, the city plans to add 10 positions in its Parks and Recreation Department to maintain the under-construction water park in Green Valley and the Whitney Ranch Recreation and Aquatic Complex.

North Las VegasNorth Las Vegas' total general fund balance for the current fiscal year that ends June 30 is $68.8 million compared to the $71.5 million anticipated for fiscal year 1999-2000, an increase of 3.8 percent.

"We're really not significantly increasing the staff," Finance Director Vytas Vaitkus said, referring to the slight increase in general fund revenues. "On top of that, the city manager required each department head to start with a zero-based budget and that tempered whatever increases might otherwise have occurred."

A zero-based budget starts from scratch. It is not built using the previous year's budget as a base.

A total of $46.2 million -- up a little more than $1 million from the current year -- goes toward public safety. General government expenses are budgeted at $11 million. A $3.3 million fund is earmarked for culture and recreation.

Vaitkus said about $62 million of the city's $161.3 million goes toward salaries.

City Manager Pat Importuna recommended the city spend more than $1.1 million in supplemental requests for one-time acquisitions such as computers, furniture and police cars.

Boulder CityBoulder City Finance Director Bob Kenney said the general operating budget for fiscal year 1999-2000 is $16.9 million compared to $15.6 million for the current year, an increase of 7.8 percent.

Much of the city's revenue increases can be attributed to the city's land leases with El Dorado Energy for a gas-fired power plant and the MGM Grand hotel-casino and Red Ridge LLC for three golf courses. The leases will bring in $1.9 million in the coming fiscal year compared to $495,000 earned in the current year.

In addition, during fiscal year 1999-2000 the city's consolidated tax, or state shared, revenues are estimated to go up by $569,558.

The city's total expenditures for the coming fiscal year are estimated at $33.3 million.

Among those expenditures are a beautification project for planting and maintaining 15,000 trees and associated landscaping and two new police officers along with eight reserve officers.

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