Metro Police salary boost would fall short

J. Craig Anderson

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005 | 8:51 a.m.

A proposed contract for Metro Police officers, which would raise salaries by nearly 17 percent, wouldn't make them the best paid in the Las Vegas Valley.

Sheriff Bill Young has argued for the contract, saying it is needed to make his department competitive with other agencies.

The contract has run into sharp criticism because it would increase overall compensation by 25.6 percent over the next four years.

The proposal will be brought for a vote to the Fiscal Affairs Committee, composed of two Clark County commissioners, two Las Vegas councilmen and one private citizen, next Monday.

The County Commission, though, is expected to derail the plan today by voting to remove Commissioner Tom Collins from the committee, replacing him with Commission Chairman Rory Reid.

Reid said the commission doesn't support the current proposal, but he left the door open for a change of opinion.

"We haven't said no yet," Reid said on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," on Las Vegas ONE, Cox cable channel 19. "We need to discuss this more."

Appearing with Reid, Young called him a "good friend to Metro," but criticized the commission for not being more communicative during negotiations.

"The county has sat at that table, in some cases, like bumps on a log," he said.

Clark County Manager Thom Reilly has said he has seen no proof that such a large increase is needed. Reilly said other organizations are receiving far less, such as the Clark County Fire Department, which recently negotiated a 17.2 percent increase over a four-year period.

Although the county funds 70 percent of the police department's budget, it only has two votes on the Fiscal Affairs Committee, along with two Las Vegas City Council members and developer Peter Thomas. Commissioner Chip Maxfield is on the committee and against the proposal. It's expected that without Collins, the proposal will stall.

Currently, the starting salary for a rookie officer at Metro is $42,975, compared with $48,615 at the North Las Vegas Police Department, and $49,044 for Henderson Police.

The contract proposed by Young and the rank-and-file officers' union, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, would increase salaries 16.75 percent during a four-year period and would apply retroactively to the current fiscal year.

An additional 9 percent increase in overall compensation would improve employee benefits, with the bulk of it going toward health insurance costs.

The contract would increase the department's contribution to health benefits by 70 percent.

According to figures provided by Police Protective Association officials, the annual salary for a police officer who started in mid-2004 could increase to about $58,872 by 2008, including annual cost-of-living and merit raises.

By comparison, a rookie officer who joined the North Las Vegas force at the same time can expect to be making $58,840 annually by 2008, but that doesn't include other anticipated raises for cost of living.

In Henderson, their counterparts are likely to earn about $59,610 per year, also not including anticipated cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), by the end of the four-year period.

Those inflation-related increases have only been determined through 2006 for North Las Vegas cops, and through 2007 for those in Henderson. Raises for subsequent years will be determined when new contracts are negotiated.

Even slight COLA increases in Henderson and North Las Vegas would leave many Metro cops with comparable experience in third place, department figures show.

Still, Clark County officials have said they want more time to discuss the proposed Metro contract, including a possible review by an outside consultant. Young has repeatedly said he objects to the idea

Young and Reid both said they intend to work on improving communication between Metro and the county when it comes to future negotiations. They also discussed the possibility of giving Metro its own budget, which would eliminate the need for a Fiscal Affairs Committee.

J. Craig Anderson can be reached at 259-2320 or craig@lasvegassun.com.