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West Wendover City workers took it on the chin while tax payers will see no increase according to the 2011/12 budget approved Tuesday by the city council.
While keeping property tax levels at the current rate the city council opted instead to an across the board slashing of employees salaries and benefits by more than ten percent according to the budget.
The cut was championed earlier this year by West Wendover mayor Donnie Anderson himself a government employee who argued that an across the board cut was preferable to layoffs of ten percent or more of the city’s workforce.
However even with the slash to salaries West Wendover will still spend more money than it generates with the deficit being taking care of the city’s raining day fund.
This could however be the last year that the savings West Wendover tucked away during its bountiful years will be there to plug a budget hole.
While the budget probably meets state standard’s for accuracy one flaw is apparent that could mean an even higher deficit that would have to be addressed either this year or the next.
In compiling the budget the city council used the population estimate of around 5,000 people released by the Nevada State Demographer’s office this March. A few weeks after that estimate was released the US census reported that there were just 4,410 people in Wendover a drop of 6.6 percent from the 4,721 counted in 2000 and more importantly a drop of more than 10 percent from its estimated population.
West Wendover share in a number of state funds is either directly or indirectly determined on a per capita basis. Fewer people mean fewer dollars and the city is already strapped for cash.
