Las Vegas Police's Operating Budget Swells by $190 Million over Past 3 Years

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has had significant budget increases in recent years, with both the city and the county contributing more funds to the law enforcement agency.

All of the revenue funds under Metro, including operation of the Clark County Detention Center, total to a budget of more than $1.5 billion. The department’s operating budget of more than $852 million in fiscal year 2024 accounts for the majority of the total fund, and includes contributions of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money from Clark County and the City of Las Vegas.

After a series of incremental increases, Metro’s operating budget has seen steady rises over the past three years, growing more than 8 percent annually, records show. That accounts for more than $190 million additional dollars being pumped into the department over the last three budgets.

Clark County’s contributions to the budget have increased by more than $86 million, while the city’s contributions rose by $29 million over the past three budgets, records show.

Gov. Joe Lombardo began the increases during his final year as Clark County sheriff, and a letter signed by him to the county commission and the city council acknowledged that the 2022 budget increase of 8.17 percent was “considerably larger than recent years.” But the two budgets that followed under Sheriff Kevin McMahill increased even more. The 2023 budget increased by 9.63 percent and last year’s by 8.66 percent, records show.

For several years prior to those increases, Metro’s operating budget increased by 0.95 to 5.14 percent.

County Commissioner Michael Naft and Las Vegas Councilwoman Olivia Diaz, who sit on Metro’s fiscal affairs committee, did not respond to request for comment for this story.

Metro Chief Financial Officer Richard Hoggan told the Review-Journal that big chunks of the operating budget’s recent increases comes from the cost of salaries and hiring employees. The combined costs of employee salaries and benefits accounts for about 83 percent of Metro’s current operating budget.

There have been 114 commissioned officers added to the force over the past three fiscal years. But that entire increase is accounted for through funding not included in the operating budget, records show. Instead, the officers have been hired through money generated by the More Cops and Crime Prevention sales taxes.

Why the increases

So if the sales tax covers costs of new officers, why have Metro’s salaries and benefits costs increased?

Hoggan said part of the increase is accounted for in the 135 additional civilian positions that have been added over the past three fiscal years — employees who are paid for by the operating budget.

Renegotiated union contracts have also raised employee salaries to match the cost of living, Hoggan said.

And Metro has also spent more in recent years on contributions to Nevada’s Public Employees Retirement System, also known as PERS. Records show Metro has spent about $38 million more on retirement benefits over the past three budgets.

Meanwhile, costs for workers compensation and liability insurance have also increased. Metro budgeted over $45 million for insurance costs this fiscal year alone, a 59 percent increase from the previous year.

“We’ve just seen some very significant impacts from that in terms of payouts,” Hoggan said.

Hoggan said police departments have been seeing increases in the number of lawsuits against law enforcement that have been coming with higher payouts. Insurance costs have also “skyrocketed,” Hoggan said, due to legislative measures that increase workers compensation reimbursements for employees with a permanent or partial disability.

Metro is currently putting together a proposal for the next fiscal year’s budget, which is set to be presented to the Clark County Commission and the Las Vegas City Council this month.

Hoggan said he expects to request for a budget increase of 2.5 percent to account for the “status quo” of running the department. Metro intends to ask for additional increases, but Hoggan said he could not give exact numbers until Metro’s fiscal affairs committee meets. It’s also unclear if Clark County and the City of Las Vegas will approve another significant increase to the budget.

The state is seeing a slow-down of increased sales tax revenue that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, which Hoggan said helped hire additional officers through the More Cops and Crime Prevention Programs. Hoggan also pointed to a December verdict of $35 million that was awarded to Kirstin “Blaise” Lobato after a jury found two detectives fabricated evidence against her in a 2001 murder. All that, combined with increased insurance costs and PERS contributions, could affect the department’s final budget.

“It seems like it will be a challenging environment,” Hoggan said.

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