Shorter workweeks for state workers? Not yet

By Cy Ryan

Friday, March 20, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Nevada could save $600,000 a year by shifting to four-day workweeks for state employees, according to an executive audit.

The savings would come primarily from heating costs in the winter in Northern Nevada and cooling costs in the summer in Southern Nevada. In fiscal 2008, the state spent $8 million on electric, natural gas, propane and oil, and auditors estimated four-day workweeks could cut that by 7.5 percent.

Executive Branch Auditor Warren Lowman said one important factor was not weighed in his review of the proposal to close state offices one day a week. “We did not determine how the public would react,” Lowman said.

The governor’s Spending and Government Efficiency Commission recommended that the state examine the schedule change.

The commission had noted that Utah adopted a four-day workweek for 17,000 employees in August. The Beehive State estimates $3 million in energy savings per year from the change, plus as much as $11 million in other employee-related savings.

The Nevada auditor noted that the four-day workweek would reduce employees’ commuting costs by 20 percent, but 10-hour workdays could affect workers’ ability to obtain day care and participate in their kids’ after-school activities.

Longer workdays could also reduce productivity and morale, he said.

Lowman said auditors will track Utah’s experience and could make recommendations to the 2011 Legislature.

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The back and forth between Gov. Jim Gibbons and the state Tourism Commission and its supporters continued this week.

Gibbons has proposed slashing the agency’s budget from $21 million this year to $8.2 million in the upcoming fiscal year and $8.7 million in fiscal 2011. The governor has also proposed merging the Tourism Commission with the Economic Development Commission.

Lawmakers this week criticized the decreased funding for tourism, saying the state should instead invest more in pushing the state’s No. 1 industry. This is the worst time to reduce spending to draw visitors, said Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said cuts would means fewer people learn about the state’s unique attractions, while other states are beefing up tourism budgets.

“The top resort destination of the world would not have a visitors guide,” he said.

Stephen Woodbury, acting executive director of the tourism division, told the budget subcommittee that the office filled 327,000 requests for tourism information in fiscal 2008. With the reductions, it would be able to fill just 83,000.

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After auditing the Nevada Nuclear Projects Commission, investigators recommended an independent review be done of 33 contracts and subcontracts and more than $28 million in federal funding spent on scientists, other experts and the law firm Egan, Fitzpatrick & Malsch.

Auditors found multiple contracts for similar functions.

For example, there were three contracts on transportation issues. The state agency also contracts with a public relations firm, while the law firm subcontracts with a public outreach firm. In addition, the Nuclear Projects Office and the law firm hire contractors to monitor other contractors.

Former agency chief Bob Loux maintained the contracts were necessary because of specialized scientific and legal issues. But the auditor said no independent review of the contracts has been done.

Egan, Fitzpatrick & Malsch has been paid more than $24 million in federal and state funding for the fight against the Yucca Mountain project since 2002, and its lawyers have been designated as special deputy attorneys general.