Las Vegas budget includes sewer-fee increase

Judy Odierna

Wednesday, May 21, 2003 | 9:15 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council gave final approval to the proposed budget for fiscal year 2004, and though it includes no property tax increase, it does include a sewer fee increase.

City officials say the fee increase is necessary to curb a possible deficit. Homeowners pay about $140 annually for sewer service now. The council approved a plan that raises it 5 percent for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, or about $7. After a study is conducted, the council will consider a fee increase that is expected to be between 25 percent and 35 percent, or about $40 to $50 a year, city officials said.

The sanitation fee hike is expected to bring in more than $2.5 million in revenue. The budget also includes fee increases that target development, which could bring in an additional $1 million.

The city's general fund budget -- the portion of the budget that relies on local taxes and fees -- will be $380 million for the coming fiscal year, a 3.8 percent increase compared with the current fiscal year. The total city budget, including such things as federal funding, is $877 million for the coming fiscal year.

City staff said the tough budget year started with requests for $54 million in additional city funding.

The city made numerous spending cuts and worked on increasing revenues and that effort brought the $8 million deficit down to about $1 million.

Metro Police initially requested a budget of $116.5 million, a $28 million increase over the department's 2003 budget, but that increase was slimmed down to $9.9 million. With contributions from Clark County and Las Vegas, Metro will have $3.8 million for new positions and expanded programs, officials said.

Additional cost-saving measures include a hiring freeze for all nonessential positions and a year's suspension of the city's quarterly newsletter. Requests for special events will now go through the city manager's office and so will out of state travel requests.

The city's tough economic times are due to a minimal increase in the consolidated tax base, which accounts for 48 percent of the city's revenue. The consolidated tax base includes sales, cigarette, liquor and motor vehicle privilege tax revenues collected by the state and distributed to the counties and cities based on a five-year formula that considers assessed valuation and population. Property taxes make up about 20 percent of the revenue.

Several council members said they remained concerned that the fee increases and other areas of the budget in which the city expects additional revenue won't be enough if pending tax bills in state legislature pass.

Mayor Oscar Goodman asked whether Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio's proposal to give the state a bigger share of future property taxes could resurface even though the bill died when it did not make it out of committee by the April 12 deadline.

The answer from Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell was a maybe.

"It could be amended into another bill," Fretwell said.

Such an amendment appeared possible Monday when Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, unveiled his tax proposal, which included an item about the state and local governments sharing future tax revenues. Lobbyists for local governments including Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson and North Las Vegas told legislators that the cities strongly oppose Townsend's plan.

Fretwell said at the city's budget hearing Tuesday that if a tax shift is passed, the city wouldn't feel the effects immediately.

"Any tax shift would be delayed until 2004, which wouldn't be felt until 2005," Fretwell said. "If they wanted to do it immediately, they would allow us to resubmit our budget."

Goodman said those eyeing the city's budget need to recognize how tight things have become for municipalities as well as the state.

"It's a lean, lean budget to even contemplate a tax shift," Goodman said. "They would be taking away from public safety, and I don't think the public will stand for that."