Young offers hold-the-line Metro budget

Wednesday, April 2, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

Sheriff Bill Young appealed to the Clark County Commission Tuesday to fund salaries for additional Metro Police officers and staff, but the only commitment commissioners made was to trim expenses wherever possible.

Young told the commission he had reduced his $365 million budget to $358 million, and said any more cuts would come out of nonessential but important programs such as drug-awareness projects for area schools.

And further cuts would lead to fewer cops on the streets, which he said would be dangerous in a tourist-based economy.

"I think it's very, very important that you understand today why I am making the request that I am," he said. "This is a hold-the-line budget."

He said Clark County and Las Vegas, the two governments that fund Metro Police, have 1.71 officers per 1,000 people, tied for last place among the country's 15 major urban areas. He said the minimum standard for safe streets is two officers per 1,000 people.

The national average for all areas is 2.5 officers per 1,000, and 4.6 for major metropolitan areas of 1 million or more.

Without the additional funding, "that would make us dead last among the 15 largest metro areas," Young said.

"If no monies are approved for additional officers, that number will trend backwards," Young said.

The newest version of the Metro budget trims the increase over last year's budget to about 12 percent. Young previously proposed a 14 percent increase. His latest budget would put 103 new Metro officers on the street and would add 38 more 911 call-takers.

The problem for Metro, as with many other agencies in the county, is that population growth is fueling an increase in the need for services, Young said.

Young said public safety should be paramount because without safe streets the tourist trade that keeps the county and area economically solvent will be lost.

Young has to do more than convince the county commissioners. He said Las Vegas, which funds 42 percent of Metro's budget, has told him the request can't be met.

"They will share the pain if they cannot fund these additional positions," Young said.