LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Clark County Commissioners are looking at the budget for Fiscal Year 2024 and nearly half is being dedicated to public safety.
During a meeting on Tuesday, Clark County's Chief Financial Officer Jessica Colvin laid out the biggest expenditures for the upcoming year.
The general fund is expected to be about $1.95 billion.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and detention center are receiving 31.1%. If you combine that with the county's other public safety measures and programs, that's 48.7% of the general fund.
Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick asked Colvin if the budget included public safety measures for big events coming up like Formula 1 and the Super Bowl.
"The fire department is impacted by special events. We have added positions to adjust and be able to address or meet the service needs of those special events," Colvin said. "Also recently, looking at the fee increases for special events to help cover some of those costs as well. For fire, that has been budgeted."
Rich Hogan, the chief financial officer for the LVMPD, said they are also working with special events to plan on staffing needs.
"What you see reflected in our budget is the additional overtime we anticipate incurring as a result of those events as well as the revenue off-setting that overtime," Hogan said. "On the police enforcement side, we are not paying for it. For example, during the Formula 1 event, we are continuing to work very closely with the planners of that event to staff it accordingly. That includes an additional dispatch channel. All of those expenses are on overtime so we're not impacting the staffing in the community. That would all be reimbursed."
When looking at revenue predicted to come in during Fiscal Year 2024, Colvin said the county has seen a growth in consolidated taxes by more than 6% during the pandemic. As the local economy has continued to improve, she added there has been an unprecedented growth of 24.82%.
Colvin said the county is preparing for a slowdown in incoming revenue since that type of growth is unsustainable.
The county is adjusting the tentative budget for final property tax revenue projections and Colvin said they're planning on filing a tentative budget on April 15.
Colvin added the budget could change since state lawmakers are still in session. That means the county will have to wait to see what bills pass and what needs to be built into the budget to comply with those mandates.
On May 15, Colvin said budget changes will be presented to the board for final approval and the final budget is set to be filed on June 1.
