Sheriff staring down some stark financial reality

By Abigail Goldman

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Metro Sheriff Doug Gillespie is denying himself a raise again this year.

And, again, that small cut is hardly enough.

For the second year in a row, Gillespie wants Metro to present a “zero-growth” budget — he doesn’t want the department to spend any more during the next fiscal year than was budgeted for this year: $549 million.

To make that happen, Metro will have to cut its budget by $14 million to $23 million, department CEO Karen Keller said during a Metro Fiscal Affairs meeting Nov. 23.

But balancing a zero-growth budget is trickier the second time around, as department costs are rising while places to cut are getting harder to find, Keller said.

This is because the last zero-growth budget was only possible after $19 million in spending cuts: Among other economies, more than 30 civilians were laid off, and almost 200 additional positions remain unfilled.

Most important, however, in a department where 87 percent of the budget goes toward salary and benefits, was the fact that all three Metro employee bargaining groups — unions representing rank-and-file officers, civilian employees and Metro’s ranking brass — temporarily gave up their cost-of-living increases, which ranged from roughly 2 percent to 4 percent.

Without those employee concessions, the sheriff has said, the zero-growth budget would have been impossible. This year, as Gillespie tries to trim a leaner piece of meat, the same is no doubt doubly true: Jobs and corners can’t be cut twice — they can only be cut deeper.

To this end, an internal “budget reduction task force” has spent the past three months combing the department for places to save money, Gillespie said. The three-team task force has now visited every operating unit in the department and, starting next week, will spend three days presenting its findings to Metro’s executive staff.

“The best-case scenario is a zero increase,” Gillespie said, “And we’re going to do our level best to bring it in under that.”

Clark County pays roughly 60 percent of Metro’s budget, the city of Las Vegas pays 40 percent, and both are facing multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls. Given this, some have wondered whether a zero-growth budget is sacrifice enough.

“I’m not sure if a flat rate is going to be enough,” Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Wolfson said during the department’s Fiscal Affairs meeting this week. “These are the most serious of times, and our tax projections are dismal.”

How deep Metro will be able to cut will depend heavily on how much the employee unions are willing to give up. Negotiations with all three groups are set to begin early next year, and until then, everybody is keeping quiet.

Paul Page, chairman of the Las Vegas Police Managers and Supervisors Association — the union that represents employees ranked as sergeants or higher — said much rests on the budget reduction task force, and how much it can find to trim.

Chris Collins, president of the Police Protective Association, which represents more than 2,700 Metro officers, says he’s ready to sit down with the sheriff and work out an agreement. Terri Yada, president of Metro’s civilian employees union, said she is also ready to come to the table.

“I’m hoping there is a light at the end of this seemingly dark tunnel,” Yada said.