By wplog

Published Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007 | 3:19 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | 2:14 p.m.

Clark County is facing an estimated $42.4 million shortfall this year due to lower-than-expected sales tax revenue.

George Stevens, the county’s chief financial officer, delivered the news to county commissioners during a meeting today.

"I think this just (shows) that the county swims in the same revenue streams that the state does,” said Commission Chairman Rory Reid.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has called for cuts from state agencies to address a $440 million state revenue shortfall. The city of Las Vegas is also facing lower-than-expected revenues.

The county had budgeted for this fiscal year based on a 5.4 percent growth rate in consolidated tax, which is made up mostly of sales tax. But those revenues are down 3 percent so far this fiscal year. That could be a problem since consolidated tax revenue makes up about 40 percent of the county’s general fund.

"We are not panicked about this,” Stevens said. “We have reserves to deal with this.”

The real problems, he said, will come as commissioners try to put together next year’s budget. The county can put off some capital projects, but if the revenue decline continues, “then this is really going to start to hurt,” he said.

Reid said the shortfall signals that departmental budget requests will be tougher to fulfill this year. It's premature to predict how the county will make up for the lower-than-expected revenues, he said.