Money woes force Henderson cuts, again

By Jeremy Twitchell

Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Increasingly dismal tax revenue has forced another round of budget cuts at Henderson City Hall, barely one month into the current fiscal year.

The City Council on Tuesday night unanimously deleted 48 vacant positions and made a number of line-item budget cuts expected to save the city $8.9 million a year for the next five years.

The police department, in lieu of making cuts, offered a plan to bring in an additional $1.1 million a year by housing more inmates from other jurisdictions in the city’s soon-to-be-expanded jail, among other means.

The cuts came after consolidated sales tax revenue, which makes up roughly one-third of the city’s general fund, declined sharply in May. Henderson took in $5.8 million, a 21 percent decline from May 2008. The city had projected a 15 percent decline.

Finance Director Steve Hanson cautioned that things could still get worse before they get better.

Mayor Andy Hafen said residents will not see a reduction in services as a result of the “Category 1 budget cuts.”

Categories 2 and 3, should they become necessary, are another story. At Category 2, the city would begin to cut services, Hanson said, and at Category 3, it would have to lay off employees.

In addition to making the cuts, the council voted to cover operating expenses in the general fund with the portion of property tax revenue it normally sets aside for construction projects.

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After hearing more than two hours of testimony Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously rejected NV Energy’s request to build a transmission line through three Henderson neighborhoods.

NV Energy had asked to expand and upgrade an existing line to help meet projected energy needs for the Las Vegas Valley.

Though the existing line predates any of the neighborhoods it traverses — Section 4, Tuscany and Weston Hills — residents of those communities fought the plan, saying the 135-foot poles and heavier lines posed unacceptable health, safety and visual effects they weren’t willing to accept in the name of progress.

NV Energy Government Affairs Executive Dave Rigdon told the council that Henderson and the surrounding area will need the line by 2015, and the proposed route is the best option because the company owns the necessary easements.

Alternative routes would cost $5 million to $19 million more than the project’s estimated $27 million price tag or would affect other neighborhoods.

Rigdon said NV Energy will take a second look at alternative routes. Additional costs could be borne by all Henderson residents, judging from a prior Public Utility Commission ruling.

Councilman Steve Kirk told the power company that ultimately it was “a quality-of-life issue.”

“(The lines) don’t need to go on this alignment,” Kirk told the power company. “Find an alternate route that doesn’t go through a neighborhood.”

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Coral Academy of Science has been trying to expand to a second site in Henderson since March.

The charter school found what its administrators say is the perfect location for its fourth through 10th grade students — a vacant office building off Sunset Road near Valle Verde Drive.

But that site has been dogged by opposition and challenges, primarily from potential neighbor Green Valley Christian. That school’s officials have urged the city to block Coral’s proposed move to their neighborhood on the grounds that it would snarl traffic in ways that could not be fixed.

Last week the Henderson Planning Commission for a fourth time left Coral’s request for a use permit unresolved, but the school has found a temporary expansion site — an office park off Green Valley Parkway near Interstate 215. The school also plans to keep working toward getting into its preferred site.

Since opening for the 2007-08 school year, Coral’s enrollment has grown from 120 students to a projected 600 students for the upcoming school year. The school will keep kindergarten through third grade at its original location, near Windmill Lane and I-215.