North Las Vegas utilities department presents $215.6 million budget, highlights capital spending and rate increase

Leticia Romero, utility finance manager for the City of North Las Vegas, presented the utilities department’s approved budget for fiscal year 2025–26.

“The approved budget for fiscal year 25 26 is 215,600,000, of which 103,200,000 is for capital improvement projects,” Romero said. She told the advisory board the overall budget represents an 8.3% increase from the current year and that most of the $16.2 million increase is for capital projects; Romero said roughly $15.8 million of that increase is capital and the remainder—about $400,000—covers utility operating expenditures such as electrical, gas and Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) water purchases.

Romero described several line items in the water and wastewater capital improvement plans. She said the water CIP totals $42.6 million, with 56.2% (about $24.0 million) funded by private funds and grants. Pump-station, reservoir and well rehabilitation projects total $18.1 million, of which Romero said $2.2 million (about 12.4%) are grants. Water improvements and repairs were listed at $4.8 million and are entirely funded from the utility enterprise fund.

For wastewater, Romero said the construction CIP is $31.5 million, and that 79% (about $25.0 million) of that is funded by private funds and grants. A separate wastewater improvements line was listed at $5.9 million, with about 5% in grants (approximately $310,000).

On revenue, Romero said the budget includes $82.2 million in water-fee revenue and that staff projects collecting about $84.8 million, in part because a 3% water-fee increase is scheduled to take effect in October and the city has about 2,300 more water accounts this April than in April 2024. She said wastewater revenue is budgeted at $67.3 million, with $50.6 million of that budgeted as wastewater-fee revenue and an anticipated collection of about $52.1 million.

Romero noted the department tends to be conservative on spending in services, supplies and payroll. She said FTE counts shown in the presentation reflect a small decrease: the slides reportedly show current-year FTEs at 92.5 and the FY25–26 budget at 89.5, a decline of three full-time equivalents; Romero attributed that change to the end of temporary “double filling” of three positions while training replacements for retiring supervisors and a manager. (The presentation also briefly referenced “189.5” FTEs in a different slide; Romero emphasized the 92.5 → 89.5 numbers when describing the personnel change.)

During Q&A, a board member asked whether the utility is operating at a surplus. Romero responded, “definitely we’re definitely making money,” citing rising accounts and the 3% rate increase, but she said she did not have the precise surplus amount at the meeting and offered to provide the figure at the next meeting.

The presentation closed with Romero inviting additional questions; none were raised beyond the items above.

The presentation was for discussion only; no formal board action was taken on the budget at this meeting.