North Las Vegas fighting arbitrator’s ruling on police medical benefits

By Dave Toplikar

Published Tuesday, June 5, 2012 | 1 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, June 5, 2012 | 1:47 p.m.

Attorneys for the cash-strapped City of North Las Vegas will try to convince a judge Friday to delay an arbitrator's award to a police officer's union that attorneys say could "push the city into the abyss of insolvency."

The award calls for the city to reimburse police officers for being forced to pay a portion of their medical benefits during the last year.

The hearing for a motion to stay enforcement of the arbitrator’s May 23 decision will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday before Clark County District Judge Nancy Allf.

Rachel Bickle-Stone, an attorney for North Las Vegas, couldn't provide an exact dollar amount Tuesday on what the award's impact would be on the city's budget. She said the city has a policy "not to comment on pending litigation."

However, the city has been dealing with a budget crisis that could lead it to lay off as many as 217 employees as it attempts to force concessions from its union groups.

James Margolin, the arbitrator, ruled that in 2011, the city “apparently intended to make an end-run” around the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association’s refusal during the last three years to relieve the city of its contractual obligation to pay 100 percent of health care premiums.

In 2011, the city created four medical benefit plans. The city paid 100 percent of the premiums on only one of those plans, which the union said was the least desirable of the four.

To get the best plan — which is similar to what employees had the previous 10 years — the officers had to contribute 20 percent of the premium cost.

The arbitrator’s order calls for the city to give employees their money back within 30 days of each officer’s request to be reimbursed.

Margolin's order also calls for allowing the police officers to join any of the more expensive health care plans at no cost. And the order calls for the city to provide the same level of medical coverage it provided officers when the contract was approved in 2007.

The city, however, has filed legal papers to vacate the arbitrator’s award, saying the arbitrator acted “arbitrarily and capriciously" and exceeded his power by effectively modifying a critical portion of the contract.

The city’s attorneys will ask at Friday’s hearing to delay the enforcement of the arbitrator’s decision until they can argue against the ruling in court.

The city doesn’t specifically say how much reimbursing the employees would cost. But it says that the arbitrator’s decision is “far-reaching, severe” and “very expensive.”

“Implementing the portion of the award requiring 2007-level medical insurance will cost (the city) an exorbitant amount of money,” the motion states. “The City has been on the brink of a state takeover for at least the last year. The devastating effects of the Award, as it is written, could push (the city) past the brink into the abyss of insolvency.”