Protecting the taxpayers

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Clark County commissioners have seen plenty of evidence indicating that some firefighters abused the department’s generous overtime and sick leave policies. In some cases, this enabled firefighters to not only put more money in their paychecks, but also to pad their pensions.

Commissioners on Tuesday heard more damning information about the abuse in the fire department. Documents, including a “sick roster,” demonstrate that firefighters scheduled sick days weeks in advance. Some firefighters gamed the schedule to collect callback pay — overtime that is given when a firefighter is called into work on short notice.

Unlike regular overtime, callback pay can be used toward calculating a firefighter’s pension, boosting it by thousands of dollars.

County officials are trying to address the matter, and a recent change in the firefighters’ contract will give county officials a greater ability to prevent sick leave abuse. That’s a good start, but more needs to be done. On Tuesday, commissioners discussed how they should move forward.

As Kyle Hansen reported Tuesday on the Las Vegas Sun’s website, the county is looking at whether it can adjust the pensions of firefighters who abused the system. Assistant County Manager Ed Finger noted that a few years ago the county recovered $800,000 from the Nevada Public Employees’ Retirement System after finding that some firefighters’ pensions were inflated by callback pay they weren’t eligible to receive.

County officials said the difficulty comes in trying to go back and prove people weren’t sick when they said they were. Finger said many of the documents indicating that firefighters manipulated the system are circumstantial, meaning it would be a tough case to make. “We’re focused on the future, we’re focused on making sure it doesn’t happen again,” Finger said.

Commissioner Larry Brown said although he supports investigating the abuse, he doesn’t want the county to be consumed by past actions. He talked about creating a “culture” of transparency.

Creating more transparency and putting an end to future abuses is important, but it’s not enough. Commissioner Steve Sisolak, who has doggedly pursued the issue, suggested that a firefighter who gamed the system could make as much as $2.4 million over the course of his retirement. If firefighters manipulated the system to gain undeserved pay, it would be akin to stealing.

Sisolak has asked local and federal law enforcement officials to investigate and asked county staff members to cooperate. Given the alleged abuse, which would have inflated pay and pensions by an untold amount of money, the county should support a full and thorough investigation. The commissioners have a responsibility to protect taxpayers’ money, and they should seek reimbursement where appropriate.

Law enforcement agencies should consider this case as well, as it appears there was flagrant and possibly criminal abuse that cost taxpayers. The county has to be aggressive in pursuing this to send the message that such abuses won’t be tolerated.