Setting county priorities

Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.

A fund set up by Clark County in the 1980s to pay for building improvements, major maintenance jobs and expensive equipment is being eyed as a source of funding for day-to-day services.

The county is thinking about tapping into this fund to augment its budget for social programs and other services because the recession has significantly reduced tax revenue. It didn’t help that the Nevada Legislature decided this year to appropriate about $60 million from the county to help the state through its own recession-related financial crisis.

We are generally wary when a local government considers transferring money from one fund to another. One obvious problem is that transfers are a temporary solution because they can usually be done once, maybe twice. If there is no plan to provide a steady source of revenue, the problem that prompted the transfer will just come back.

Another problem is that the programs financed by the fund from which the money was transferred will be shorted unless the money can be paid back quickly, which is often not the case.

Nevertheless, these are not normal times. All options must be considered when the most vital services are threatened, as they are today in the county. The economy has created hardships for thousands of individuals and families, and it is no time for cuts in social services.

This is why county commissioners are eyeing the Capital Improvement Program, also known as Fund 437. Over the years the fund has grown from sources including planned allocations from the county’s general fund, money left unspent from departmental budgets, money saved from job vacancies, and sales of county assets. Today it contains $101 million.

There are plans for the money, but the commissioners have to decide whether some of those plans can be postponed to meet the immediate needs of people receiving county services. Our view is that people come first and that a sizable transfer from the fund should be carried out.