Potential incorporation of Laughlin could cost firefighters big money

By Joe Schoenmann

Sunday, June 13, 2010 | 2 a.m.

With Assemblyman Joe Hardy’s victory in the Republican state Senate District 12 primary, chances have improved that Laughlinites might get their long-held wish: incorporation.

Q: If fulfilled, would the Clark County administration be happy about it?

A: No one knows for sure and here’s why: County firefighters in Laughlin would become part of a pool of relief firefighters assigned to substitute at straight time, not overtime, when their colleagues call in sick. The county’s Laughlin fire contingent numbers 46, so the savings could be large.

At the same time, the county would be picking up the salaries of all those firefighters, who are currently paid through something called the Laughlin Town Fund, which is separate from the county budget. So that would be more cost for the county.

There’s one more thing to consider: If it happened, sources say there’s a very good likelihood that because of staffing changes at the Fire Department an extra 46 firefighters might be too many.

Q: Too many? We’ve never heard that. All we ever hear is the union saying “hire more firefighters to cut back on overtime.”

A: But that’s what could occur. And, sources also say, for the first time Clark County and its fire department could be looking at laying off firefighters because they wouldn’t need all of them.

Q: How does Hardy’s election help the incorporation effort?

A: He said Wednesday that if he’s elected in November he will sponsor a bill to allow Laughlin residents to vote on incorporation. That bill would also commission a study of what it would cost, giving voters more than gut feelings upon which to base their decisions.

“I want the people who live there to decide their own fate,” Hardy said.

He sponsored a similar bill that failed in the 2009 Legislature.

Q: Laughlin may want this, but do firefighters?

A: Sources say the county firefighters union lobbied successfully against Hardy’s 2009 bill. Perhaps the union believes that if incorporation happened, they would no longer be paid so generously.

Q: Is their pay really so generous?

A: Draw your own conclusions, based on figures from the county’s 2009 salary list:

• Ten Laughlin captains averaged $190,509 in wages, plus another $62,863 in insurance and retirement payments: $253,372 total per captain.

• Thirteen Laughlin fire engineers averaged $172,200 in salary/benefits, plus $56,613 in insurance/retirement payments: $228,813 total per engineer.

• Twenty-three firefighters averaged $159,262 salary/benefits, plus $50,485 in insurance/retirement payments: $209,747 total per firefighter.

In total, that’s about $11 million in compensation.

Q: If Laughlin incorporated, would it have to pay those same salaries and benefits?

A: First, it’s doubtful that Laughlin, an area of about 9,000 people, would pay salaries that high. Also, as I noted earlier their firefighters are paid from the Laughlin Town Fund, which took in about $12 million in 2009. Again, about $11 million of that goes to Laughlin firefighters.

So if they incorporated and paid firefighters their current wages that would leave a paltry $1 million for all the other government services a newly incorporated town or city has to provide.

Laughlin’s plan is to pay firefighters at rates more in keeping with a town of that size.

•••

It’s “silly season,” as some like to call an election year, and here are some interesting tales that come via the grapevine. That doesn’t mean they aren’t true. In fact, one appears to be on target, according to the subject of the speculation, while the other may be way off.

Q: Guess who people say is seriously considering a run to replace Oscar Goodman as Las Vegas mayor?

A: County Commissioner Larry Brown. Sources say Brown’s affinity for baseball — but for an arm injury, Brown at one time was on his way to the big leagues — and his desire to do more with Cashman Field make it an attractive office for him. He is also interested in parks, which have fallen on the county’s priority list as it deals with its budget crunch.

Q: What does Brown say about all this?

A: “I am seriously considering it,” Brown said Wednesday. Though he loves his county job, he said, the former Las Vegas councilman also has an affinity for some of the issues and matters raised in the city.

He said he’ll make a decision within 30 to 60 days.

Q: Guess who people say will not run again for County Commission?

A: Steve Sisolak. Some sources say he might not run because firefighters will do all they can to defeat him during the next election cycle, in two years.

Q: What does Sisolak say about that?

A: He laughed out loud. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “I’m definitely running. All our decisions are tough right now and I’m doing what I think is best for the county and its taxpayers.”