County takes $41 million from reserves to balance budget

By Conor Shine

Monday, May 20, 2013 | 12:45 p.m.

Clark County commissioners finalized a $1.2 billion budget Monday that will use $41 million in reserves to cover a structural deficit.

The issue: Commissioners needed to approve a final budget for submission to the state Department of Taxation before the June 1 deadline.

The vote: Approved unanimously.

What it means: Clark County's budget will remain roughly the same size in fiscal year 2014, which starts July 1.

Although the county had to tap $41 million in reserves, leaving $108 million in the fund for future years, it avoided deep cuts to staff that had been needed to close budget gaps for several years in the aftermath of the recession.

Chief Financial Officer George Stevens said the county's budget has stabilized but it's still hampered by slow increases in property tax revenues, which remain below 2006 levels.

"I think we've pretty much bottomed out but I don't think you're going to see any significant growth in property taxes going forward as long as those caps are in place," Stevens said, referencing a state-mandated cap that prevents individual property tax bills from rising more than three percent per year.

Commissioners have been discussing the budget for months, including a public hearing in April, which made for a routine meeting Monday morning.

Although no members of the public made any comments during Monday's hearing, commissioners did spend about two hours quizzing staff about various expenditures in the budget, focusing specifically on several enterprise funds like the Las Vegas Township Constable's Office and the county's parking operations.

Another concerned raised by commissioners dealt with seemingly large increases spent on "supplies and services" in several departments.

Many of the increases are the byproduct of budgeting practices and not all of the allocated money will be spent, according to staff. Still, Commissioner Susan Brager said she wants a more clear definition of what's included in that category for each department.

"We need to know what that is, services and supplies. I keep thinking toilet paper, pens, pencils, tape," said Brager, who referenced a budgeted increase of $15.5 million for services and supplies in the county's air quality department. "I think we need an overview of what this really is so that we know that it's being used where it needs to be used."