$321.2 million LV budget OK’d

Erin Neff

Wednesday, May 17, 2000 | 11:40 a.m.

Bolstered by a recent boost to the city's bond rating and a budget that imposes no new residential taxes, the Las Vegas City Council on Tuesday began eyeing the future.

And while approval of the 2001 general and redevelopment agency budgets came with good news, the financial forecast might not be as bright.

That's why the new budget has several initiatives to make growth pay for growth. And also why the council was able to pinpoint $3 million in additional savings from the tentative budget first posed April 26 in a council workshop.

It's that type of scrutiny that shows the city is making every effort to be cost effective, City Manager Virginia Valentine said.

"Providing the services you've asked us to provide, (the budget) is as lean as it can be," Valentine added.

Both the $321.2 million general fund budget and the $8.6 million redevelopment agency budget were approved unanimously during a meeting at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center. Councilman Gary Reese was absent.

The $3 million in savings came from paring the budgeted amount for overtime pay, services and supplies. A total of $1 million in savings was transferred to the city's capital reserve fund and $2 million was transferred to the ending fund balance.

The fund balance of $38.1 million is nearly 12 percent of the projected revenue for the 2001 fiscal year. City policy mandates a minimum 10 percent balance.

The healthy cushion left as a result of conservative planning is one of the reasons Moody's Investors Service raised the city's bond rate to Aa3 last week, Finance Director Mark Vincent said.

The city has also saved money by privatizing Woodlawn Cemetery, leasing surplus jail beds and partnering with both the public and private sector for recreation services and parks.

During a discussion on planned funding for parks projects, Vincent remarked that "the efficiencies we've made in the general fund have allowed us to spend money on these things."

That might not be the case for long if revenues slip. The city has been accustomed to extraordinary increases in revenues for most of the 1990s as a result of the bullish economy.

Even while designating funding for a new four-person rapid response team to clean up city alleys, the council worried about such requests in future years.

"Someday we're going to have to decide what's more important," City Councilman Larry Brown said. "A rapid response team, a Firefighter 1 or an Office Specialist II."