City’s share of police budget to rise

Judy Odierna

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Las Vegas will have to pay more for public safety in the next fiscal year because of a shift in the funding formula that determines the Metro Police Department's annual budget.

The city may have to pay an additional $630,000 a year beginning July 1 because of a slight percentage increase within the city limits of calls for service and felony crimes last year. The city contributes about $90 million annually, while Clark County pays more than $120 million to make up the majority of the Metro budget. Clark County's overall percentage share will decrease slightly.

Metro's budget request will be presented to the Metro Fiscal Affairs Board on Monday.

"The thing that causes us to pay a higher bill isn't the appropriation plan, it's the natural growth in the budget," Mark Vincent, director of finance and business services, said. "If our percentage changes, it doesn't necessarily mean we are going to pay more. It depends on the budget.

"However, there's nothing I've seen or heard to indicate that Metro is going to ask for a reduction in its budget."

The City Council will discuss and take possible action on the item at 9 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 400 Stewart Ave., while Clark County will approve the item as a consent agenda matter on Tuesday, which means unless a commissioner requests otherwise, it will voted on without debate.

If the County Commission or the City Council rejects the plan, the budget will go to arbitration.

That hasn't happened since Metro was formed through the consolidation of the Clark County Sheriff's Department and the Las Vegas Police Department, Karen Keller, Metro's executive director of finance, said. Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite maintain their own police departments.

"Sometimes there are some questions where we go back and look at the formula, but it's usually passed as is," Keller said.

The allocation of funding between the city and county is determined by statistics that detail the population, calls for service and felony crimes during the preceding years and are applied to Metro's cost categories of uniform, investigative and community services.

Metro's Rural Resident Officer Program is funded solely by the county.

In the formula for the upcoming fiscal year the city's population percentages went up over last year, from 43.6 percent of Metro's jurisdiction to 43.8 percent; the percentage of calls for service in the city increased from 41.4 percent of the total to 41.8 percent; and felony crimes in the city limits increased from 50.7 percent to 57.9 percent.

The county saw decreases in each category. In population percentages, the county showed a decrease from 56.4 percent in the formula last year to 56.2 for the upcoming fiscal year. Calls for services decreased from 58.6 percent to 58.2 percent, and felony crimes decreased from 49.3 percent to 42.1 percent.