The Clark County council unanimously approved 80 amendments to the 2015-2016 biennial budget on Tuesday, including approving funding for an additional deputy prosecuting attorney.
The supplemental changes include $46,143,303 in revenue increases from budget-neutral sources such as grants, budget analyst Adriana Prata said. The county will increase its expenditures by $20,118,148.
Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik thanked the budget office and council for recognizing the importance of hiring an additional deputy prosecutor. Clark County has seen a 29 percent increase in cases filed in the past five years, putting a strain on current staff.
“This addition of this position was critical,” Golik said.
Though he eventually supported the amendments in full, Councilor David Madore raised an issue with one adjustment: a request from the Auditor’s Office for $210,000 in overtime to digitize microfilm records dating back to 1960.
Madore said he was concerned using overtime to complete the digitization would wear out county employees, and questioned whether it would be more efficient to hire a temporary employee for the project.
“I would much rather see staff that are not taken advantage of, that are not burned out,” Madore said.
County General Services Director Bob Stevens, however, explained that it will be cheaper and more efficient to allocate overtime funds to complete the project rather than recruit, hire and train an additional employee for a one-time project.
“We’re not setting up a chronic condition for ongoing work,” Stevens said.
The adjustments also included funding for two building safety inspectors and a customer support specialist to respond to an uptick in construction this year, according to the county budget office.
The council also approved purchasing a new boiler for the Juvenile Justice Center and refinancing $7.7 million in bonds in the budget adjustments.
