Vol. 2, No. 15
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June 1, 2005
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CRIMINAL DEFENSE |
COPYWRITING
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Cities And Counties Prepare Fiscal Year Budgets
Some Entities Don't Think We Have A Right To Know
by Johnny Gunn
We're entering the final month of the 2004-2005 fiscal year and that means budget season for the Silver State's cities and counties. For generations those who have wished to hide their finances didn't have much trouble since few would go to the proper agency head and pay a per-page fee for a copy. With the Internet solidly in place, that practice should have ended. If a city or county has a web page, and there are still a few that don't, the entity's budget should be there for all to see.
The City of Reno, often chastised in these pages for attempting to hide city functions not only has their budget on the city's web page, they even sent out a press release saying so. Go to: http://www.cityofreno.com/gov/budget.
All of the budgets discussed in this article are still to be considered preliminary, but by the time you read this, the budgets should be final on the web pages.
Washoe County, which has a serious proclivity for hiding information from its citizens has yet to post their budget or any proposals leading up to it. This means to see the budget you must go to the county complex on Ninth Street and pay an outrageous per-page fee to have a copy. We put a man on the moon in the 20th Century, and this is the 21st Century, except on Ninth Street in Reno.
The Nevada Counties with budgets online as we go to press include Carson City, Churchill County, Clark County, and Douglas County. Nevada Cities with their budgets online include Boulder City, City of Henderson, City of Las Vegas, City of Mesquite, City of North Las Vegas, City of Reno, and the Township of Pahrump.
As Nevada Observer Publisher David Thompson pointed out two weeks ago in the "Breaking News" section of the home page, "If the town of Pahrump can put its budget online, surely Washoe County can."
Regardless of where you live in Nevada, you have a right to know how your money is being spent, and it shouldn't cost you a bundle to know. For a most complete look at the political entities in the state that have web sites, go to our Links Page. The Nevada Observer has the most complete links page of any web site in the Silver State. There shouldn't be any reason, fiscal or otherwise for a county, city, or township that has an operating budget not to have a web site. And that budget should be posted prominently. Don't ever forget that that's your money they are planning to spend.
Preparing budgets is a long involved job in which accountants, department managers, politicians, and other interested parties all try to get their special programs listed. Cities and counties are facing a new obstacle as they prepare budgets for the fiscal year about to start. The current session of the Legislature has passed a property tax reform measure signed into law by Governor Kenny Guinn.
Rising property values sparked the possibility of extremely high property tax increases, and the legislature put a cap on how high those increases can go. For private property the property tax increases are capped at three percent and for commercial property, the cap on increases is eight percent. This is having a profound effect on how budgets are being put together this year. As the legislature began work many counties were actually rubbing their hands in glee thinking about the potential for huge amounts of increased taxes that might be coming their way.
Washoe County Manager Katy Singlaub says it is possible there may be some cutbacks on expenses because of the new law. The Washoe County Commission voted a six- percent increase in spending on their new budget, but including at least 150 new county employees. The budget approved in commission hearings is set at $445 million.
The county is expecting a reduction in property tax money of as much as $4.2 million, but Singlaub says it may even be higher than that.
In Clark County, the preliminary budget has been set at $1,331,507,965. Clark County has their entire budget on their web site. The budget will be finalized prior to July 1. Clark County's budget figures include money for such things as University Medical Center, and programs that have been handed down from the state dealing with health issues.
The number of county employees in Clark County has risen only 3.1 percent in each of the last ten years according to officials. Population figures show increases averaging about 7.4 percent per year.
In the meantime, Las Vegas has also posted its preliminary budget on its web site totaling $1.2 billion. It includes an eight percent increase in funds for the police department, much of that to go for 59 new officers and 50 new civilian employees. The police budget totals $115 million. The city's employee growth rate stands at about 1.4 percent. There are 2,900 employees in Las Vegas.
The City of Reno's posted preliminary budget call for spending $453.8 million in the next fiscal year including costs for an additional 24 jobs in the police department. Reno calls their budget "program-based," and says it's the sixth year for a hold the line budget. According to Reno Finance Director Andy Green the concept calls for employees to be fiscally responsible and to hold the line on expenditures. Green says, "Given the impact of the recent property tax cap, I think the city has done a good job in analyzing where costs can be minimized while limiting the impact on service levels."
The new property tax cap will have an effect on the total numbers for all budgets throughout the state. In rural counties, property values have actually decreased in many areas as people leave to move to metropolitan cities. In Nevada, it's property taxes that lead the funding for education, and rural counties might find themselves in fiscal straits because of the exodus and lowered property values.
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