Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Clark County reviews new criminal-justice sales tax and a sheriff request for about 20 deputies
Summary
Councilors reviewed a financial model tied to House Bill 2015 and gave informal support for staff to pursue eligibility for a one‑tenths‑of‑one‑percent public‑safety sales tax; the sheriff asked the county to plan for roughly 20 deputies plus support staff, with hires taking 18–24 months to be fully operational.
Clark County Council on Wednesday heard a staff presentation on the new criminal‑justice/public‑safety sales tax authorized by the 2025 Legislature and discussed an accompanying sheriff staffing request that would add roughly 20 deputies.
“If we are eligible and get that thumbs up by the January eighteenth, then we can actually start collecting the tax the first day of the second quarter of next year,” said Kathleen, a county staff member leading the discussion on implementation timelines and eligibility requirements under House Bill 2015.
The presentation by county finance staff described an interactive model that shows revenue scenarios and the downstream impacts of new hires on other law‑and‑justice departments. The model assumes the county could begin collecting the tax April 1, 2026, if an eligibility application is ready by mid‑January; revenues would arrive to the county two to three months after that. The model also illustrates that the new revenue source would not, on its own, close all of the county’s general‑fund critical needs.
The sheriff’s office asked for roughly 20 additional sworn positions, with some assigned to patrol, detectives and traffic and one position proposed to expand the county’s Hart (behavioral‑health response) team into unincorporated areas. The sheriff said hires typically require 18–24 months to be fully trained and effective and that additional support staff—records, communications and a volunteer coordinator—would be needed to sustain the expansion.
“It’s about 18 to 24 months before fully operational,” the sheriff said when describing the timeline from hiring to operational impact.
Councilors discussed options including reserving ongoing funding for the new positions, building evaluation checkpoints after 12 months, and pursuing competitive state grants that could help cover sign‑on bonuses and other costs. Finance staff noted the model can be adjusted to reflect different hiring tempos and grant scenarios.
Councilors gave informal support for staff to continue preparing the county’s eligibility materials and to return a staff report in January with a recommended path forward; final changes to FTEs and any formal budget approvals would require a Tuesday meeting and formal vote. Staff will also refine the slides to isolate law‑and‑justice critical needs in future briefings.
