a service of the Nevada Policy Research Institute

Issues

Chamber talking points for the business community regarding the police salary contract:

 

The Las Vegas Chamber believes we should:

  • Support the public security force to preserve the safety and well-being of our citizens and businesses

  • Commend the thousands of public safety officials to ensure we are safe from crime and violence

  • Balance public policy needs with financial realities and sound management of taxpayer dollars

  • Eliminate government burdens on the business community and support efficient government spending

 

The Contract:

  • The four year increase in the contract is more than a 25% increase costing almost $52 million

  • This includes:

    • 3.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in Year One

    • 4.5% (COLA) in Years Two-Four

    • 1.75% increase in the Government Paid Defined Benefit Pension Contribution

  • On top of this is a 4% Merit Pay or “Step” Increase

  • This brings the potential annual increase in compensation to 8% a year

  • According to PolicePAY.net Nevada is ranked 57th out of 200 large metro police departments

  • These contract terms are not comparable to the private sector where raises are typically based on merit and those that are based on COLAs are tied to the Consumer Price Index

 

The Sales Tax Increase:

  • This proposal comes on the heals of a quarter-cent increase in our Sales Tax to pay for new cops (effective Oct 1, 2005)

  • The tax is expected to place more than 150 new cops on the street in year one or in the first decade to hire 1,278 new officers

·        Based on the higher salary figures and estimates from the Review Journal, $8.9 million would pay for 200 newly hired officers at the current entry-level salary.  But by the fourth year of the contract new hires would be down to 136 per year

The Concerns:

          Limits Future Hires and Government Services  

  • Sky-rocketing increases in local government employee pay, driven by COLAs not linked to inflation, are limiting the resources local government has to offer public services

  • Every dollar absorbed by salaries is a dollar that does make it to the public in the form a needed service, such as health and welfare.

  • These increases could limit the number of cops hired on the streets

 

Increases Starting Salaries for Cops

  • This could increase starting salaries for Cops more than $20,000 a year above Nevada’s median wage of $34,000 by the fourth year of the contract

 

          Drives Costs Higher for Future Public Sector Wages

  • This is among the highest negotiated increase for public employee salaries

    • Higher than the Las Vegas City firefighters at 17% increase over four years and the County Firefighters at 15% over four years

  • This increase for the police will drive all public employee salaries higher in future negotiations at levels of government as contracts are often compared to each other

 

Creates Long-Term Pension Funding Problems

  • Nevada’s public employees (state and local) have a defined benefit not defined contribution pension plan called PERS

    • They receive a flat percent of their three highest earning years in the public sector

    • As wages increase, the real dollar amount of the flat percentage benefit payment increases costing taxpayers more.

  • Private sector employers typically offer a defined contribution plan, such as a 401K

  • Increasing police salaries increases the long-term retirement liability for the taxpayer

  • Currently, the department pays 32% percent of an officer's salary into the state's Public Employee Retirement System

  • Contract salary increases could increase the taxpayer burden by more than $5,000 per officer per year by the final year of the contract, according to Review-Journal estimates

 

If you are concerned about this issue please contact the member of the Fiscal Affairs Committee:

 

Chip Maxfield

County Commission 

ccdistc@co.clark.nv.us

500 Grand Central Parkway

Las Vegas, NV 89106

702-455-3500

 

Tom Collins

County Commission

ccdistb@co.clark.nv.us

500 Grand Central Parkway

Las Vegas, NV 89106

702-455-3500

 

Larry Brown

City of Las Vegas

lbrown@ci.las-vegas.nv.us

Ward 4

City Hall, Tenth Floor

400 Stewart Avenue

Las Vegas, NV 89101

Phone: (702) 229-6405

Fax: (702) 382-8558

 

Gary Reese

City of Las Vegas

greese@ci.las-vegas.nv.us

Ward 3

City Hall, Tenth Floor

400 Stewart Avenue

Las Vegas, NV 89101

Phone: (702) 229-6405

Fax: (702) 382-8558

 

Peter Thomas

Citizen at Large

2300 W. Sahara Box 1

Las Vegas, NV 89102

(702) 368-4200

 

Annamarie Robinson

Management Assistant

Fiscal Affairs Committee

702-229-1366

 

And, let them know your concerns with the 25% increase in the police contract, before October 24th.