Tuesday, May 19, 2009 | 10:31 p.m.
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The Henderson City Council approved a nearly $548 million budget Tuesday night, marking a $69 million decrease from the budget it approved a year ago.
During the 2009 fiscal year, which ends June 30, the city has imposed a hiring freeze, cut departmental budgets by 10 percent, offered buyouts to veteran employees and instituted a furlough program, among other measures, to bring the city's originally proposed $617 million budget in line with falling tax revenues.
The 2010 fiscal year budget keeps all those measures in place, city staff said, while keeping the city's property tax rate unchanged for the 20th consecutive year.
"All the city departments have been working very hard and cooperatively to come up with plans for how we can reduce expenditures without cutting services," Henderson Budget and Strategic Manager Jill Lynch said.
The general fund, which represents the city's expenses in public safety, parks and recreation and general government, is projected to finish at about $259 million at the end of the 2009 budget year.
The 2010 budget calls for a $244 million general fund.
Lynch said the 2010 budget may need to be reduced, depending on how the Legislature decides to address Nevada's massive budget shortfall.
She said she's been advised that the state may take a share of the franchise fees that Henderson collects from utilities and a bigger chunk of local sales tax to cover the gap, though nothing is certain yet.
"We don't know," Lynch said. "We're hearing little bits and pieces. What we're hearing now is about $5 million (that the state would take), but we don't know. It could be more."
Lynch said each city department has been put on notice to come up with a tentative plan for how it would reduce its budget should further cuts be required.
"Every department right now is working on contingency plans," Lynch said. "We will have plans in place so that if we have to make additional cuts, we can go to our council for direction in regards to the contingency plans."
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