City Manager's Office
Fiscal Sustainability
In 2008 the City of Henderson recognized downward trends in key financial indicators that were just beginning to hit our national economy. Those trends quickly led our country into the “Great Recession” we continue to experience today.
Five-year Balanced Budget Model
The city quickly moved to create a Five-Year Budget Model to help stabilize our
city’s finances. The model includes revenue and expenditure projections of all
major operating funds and helps city leaders measure and make
regular adjustments to the economic condition of the city
During this recession, Henderson has experienced an unprecedented decline in
Property Tax and Consolidated Tax revenues. To offset the decline we’ve reduced
expenditures through the implementation of budget reduction strategies. Our city
finances are continuously monitored and the projections within the budget model
are adjusted to reflect any changes in our revenues and expenditures.
Budget Reduction Strategies
As part of our Five Year Plan, we continue to make modifications to our budget
as required by our economic circumstances. To date we have implemented almost
$105 million in budget reductions.
By the end of calendar year 2008:
- Created a 5-year model to monitor revenues and expenditures in General Fund and other funds as well as internal service and reserve funds
- Implemented:
- Hiring freeze
- Overtime restrictions
- Travel and training restrictions
- Base budget cuts of 3.5% from all departments' operating budgets
- Capital Improvement Projects postponed, including Henderson Convention Center remodel and new Fleet Maintenance facility
During the remainder of fiscal year 2008-2009:
- Offered a first round Voluntary Employee Severance Program (VESP)
- Prepared contingency plans that cut up to 15% of each department’s operating budget. The plan can be put into effect in stages as the economy continues to deteriorate. Category 1 of those contingency plan cuts were implemented in July 2009 and Category 2 implemented in February 2010.
- Holidays & Holiday Pay Reductions/Elimination
- Extended useful life of city vehicles
- Reduction of city vehicle fleet
- Tuition reimbursement limitations
- Compensatory time in lieu of overtime
- Voluntary Furlough Program
- Cell phone policy revisions and restrictions
In fiscal year 2010:
- Implemented a true 4-day work week with City Hall closing on Friday
- Elimination of vacant positions in enterprise funds
- Operating budget cuts in enterprise funds
- Elimination of deferred compensation match
- Elimination of vehicle allowances
- Elimination of cost of living allowances (COLAs) for non-represented employees for fiscal year 2010
- Elimination of COLAs for police and teamsters for fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012
- Reduced COLAs for fire union for fiscal year 2010 and elimination of COLAs for fiscal year 2011 and 2012
- Consolidated citywide Xerox contracts
- Suspended tuition reimbursements for employee education
- Closed City Hall on week in December
Workforce Statistics
Through a combination of VESP offerings and attrition, our staffing levels are
now below 2007 figures.
|
|
FY 2009 Budget |
FY2010 Current |
Change |
Change as a percent of |
|
Public Safety |
|
|
|
|
|
Police Department |
592 |
550 |
-42 |
|
|
Fire Department |
219 |
215 |
-4 |
|
|
|
811 |
765 |
-46 |
5.67% |
|
All Other Departments |
1,280 |
1,091 |
-189 |
14.77% |
|
Total City Staff Complement |
2,091 |
1,856 |
-235 |
11.24% |
The City of Henderson continues to maintain a low resident to employee ratio and has maintained the same low property tax rate for the past 21 years while providing a full array of services to Henderson residents. The City of Henderson is a full-service city offering municipal services which include but not limited to:
- 24- Hour Police & Fire Protection
- 24-Hour Emergency Medical Service
- 24-Hour 9-1-1 Service
- Maintained Streets, Lighting and Flood Control
- Parks Operations and Maintenance
- Customer Information and Assistance
- Cultural and Recreation Programming
- Water and Wastewater Services
- Development Services
- Building and Fire Safety Services
When comparing the number of city employees per resident, Henderson measures the lowest among southern Nevada municipalities.
Source: City of Henderson Community Development Department
* Las Vegas includes portions of Metropolitan Police Department and Las Vegas
Valley Water District
The future?
We’ve trimmed our
workforce, reduced operating budgets, and we continue to work closely with our
bargaining units. The City of Henderson budget strategies have saved Henderson
residents almost $105 million to date. Our effort to remain a financially stable
organization enables us to maintain the same low tax rate for the last 22 years.
Each department within the City of Henderson has developed a contingency plan
that includes an additional 15% budget reduction should the city need to make
further cuts. Henderson has been committed to providing our residents the
highest levels of efficiency and customer service while remaining an efficient
government.
We’ve been vigilant in minimizing the impact of our budget reductions to our
community. However, further budget reductions may include cuts to programs,
services and staff and the outcome would ultimately affect our residents and
customers.
The City also recently completed the
2011-2013 Strategic Plan. This plan will
act as a framework for the City's operations over the next 3 years as the City
strives to provide the effective and efficient government services that our
community has come to expect.
Development of this plan was a combined effort of citizens, elected officials,
and City staff. Each group will also play an essential role in the plan's
implementation. The goal of this plan is to provide a platform for achieving
future success.
This new Strategic Plan builds on our great past and will guide us to even
greater levels of success in our vision To Be America’s Premier Community.