Editorial: Las Vegas gets stiffed

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004 | 8:49 a.m.

In 2005 the state of Nevada will receive $28 million in funding from the federal Homeland Security Department, a sizable cut from this year's $36 million. Overall, states will receive less money in the coming year, so it's not altogether surprising that Nevada's amount would decline as well.

What is mysterious is that the Homeland Security Department reduced what the Las Vegas metropolitan area receives from the Urban Area Initiative program, which distributes money directly to cities and urban areas deemed by the department to be most at risk from a terrorist attack. The $8.5 million that Las Vegas will receive in the coming year is lower than what it received this year -- $10.5 million -- even though the amount available in this program has increased from $725 million in 2004 to $854 million in 2005.

It is dismaying that Las Vegas would trail cities such as Phoenix ($9.9 million) and Denver ($8.7 million), two urban areas that don't face nearly the same threat as does Las Vegas. The 9/11 hijackers visited Las Vegas prior to the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, and departing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has identified Las Vegas -- which draws 35 million visitors a year and is one of the world's top resort destinations -- as one of our nation's top terrorist targets.

The Homeland Security Department uses a matrix, employing different variables, to assess the vulnerability of cities to a terrorist attack. The measurement in turn helps determine the level of funding for the cities. It's clear that the matrix needs a serious overhaul to better reflect the potential threat facing Las Vegas, so that our city receives its fair share of funding.