No tax increases seen in city budgets

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 12:40 p.m.

Henderson and North Las Vegas will add employees, with a focus on public safety, and Boulder City will cut one position under budgets for the coming fiscal year.

None of the budgets approved by the city councils Tuesday call for tax increases, although water rate increases are projected in the budgets for North Las Vegas and Boulder City.

The budgets, which are for the fiscal year that begins July 1, were each unanimously approved by the different councils.

North Las Vegas' $389 million spending plan for fiscal 2005 calls for adding 71 positions, including 46 full-time positions in the police department. The city has about 1,400 employees. The budget also sets aside $100,000 to study whether a teen center is needed and, if so, where it should go.

The approved North Las Vegas budget is about $39 million higher than the current budget, thanks in part to additional money from rising property values, which affect tax revenue, and higher-than-expected income from building and planning permits.

The approved budget also includes water and sewer rate increases that were approved by the council in September. The increases take effect in October and will increase a typical customer's monthly bill, now about $41.58, by about $4.75.

Henderson's $358 million budget for 2004-2005 calls for adding 49 positions, including 13 in the police department and two in the fire department. The city currently has about 2,000 employees.

The approved budget is about $19.7 million less than the budget for the current fiscal year, which was inflated by payments for construction projects, including the $41.8 million City Hall expansion.

Boulder City's $46.1 million budget for the coming fiscal year sets aside $1.4 million for debt payments on the city's controversial Boulder Creek Golf Club and includes no money for employee pay raises or additional employees.

The budget is about $500,000 less than the spending plan that was approved for the current fiscal year, and the difference can be largely attributed to the golf course.

The total budget includes an $18.6 million general fund, which is down from $19.7 million for the current year. This year's general fund spending was inflated by about $3 million by subsidies and contract and lawsuit settlements all related to Boulder Creek.

The budget also calls reducing the number of full-time city employees to 163 by eliminating a building maintenance position that was not not filled after a retirement.

The 2004-2005 fiscal year budget also reflects a water rate increase of 10 cents per 1,000 gallons of water used, which city Finance Director Bob Kenney said would cost the typical city customer about 80 cents more a month.

The water rate increase has not been approved by the council and will probably go before the council for approval next month, Kenney said.