It’s official, inflation hits both the meek and the mighty and pretty much everyone with a boss would like to have a bigger paycheck.
To that end, the Boulder City Council met in a special session Tuesday to hear presentations from the city manager, city attorney and city clerk and then to issue official performance reviews with each of those officers being ranked on several items on a scale of 1-5. The printed agenda called for the council to hear presentations, deliberate and determine an average ranking for each person and then to vote on a resolution regarding their salary for fiscal year 2024.
The final part of that process was postponed until May. Outside counsel for the city council (the city attorney could not advise them on this matter as she has a financial interest in the outcome) advised them that any changes in compensation would necessitate new language in each of their contracts and that language would have to be drafted before the council could vote on resolutions regarding future salary.
But before hearing from the executive staff, the council heard a request from Municipal Court Judge Victor Miller for what would be his first salary adjustment since 2014.
The major issue driving Miller’s request is fallout from an unfunded mandate put forth by the Nevada State Legislature in 2022. At that time, without identifying a funding mechanism to pay for it, lawmakers required that anyone arrested in the state had to have an appearance before a judge within 48 hours of the time of the arrest.
In larger municipalities with multiple judges, there was flexibility to change scheduling to make that happen. But in Boulder City, with just one judge who doubles as a justice of the peace for Clark County, it meant adding a significant number of work hours that went uncompensated since July of 2022.
The council voted unanimously to raise Miller’s salary by six percent. The raise will be paid for initially from funds the city received from the American Rescue Plan, the federal act that infused $1.9 trillion into the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. But ARPA funds are a one-time infusion. In the future, the raise will have to come from the city’s general fund.
As the council moved on to performance reviews, each city executive made a presentation about their job, future goals and present accomplishments.
City Manager Taylour Tedder pointed to the annexation of 2,500 acres of land in the Eldorado Valley, which will eliminate any unincorporated land between Boulder City and Henderson, accreditation of the city’s fire department and various cost savings totaling nearly $1 million annually among other accomplishments.
City Attorney Brittany Walker pointed to strengthening city contracts in order to avoid expensive litigation and a renegotiation of the contract with the solar facilities that lease land from the city, which resulted in $200,000 in additional revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 and about $1.2 million over the life of the contract. She was also able to get a local motel business removed from a list maintained by the Nevada Department of Parole and Probation that specified places where recently released felons could be sent to live. The council thanked her for that and said it would make the city a safer place.
City Clerk Tami McKay pointed to the scanning of nearly 30,000 documents that will now be available online and which should result in fewer public record requests as well as 437 passports processed. She said the city gets about 20 calls per day regarding passport services.
In the end, the council gave Tedder a 4.63 out of five score. Walker received 3.96 and McKay got 4.76. These scores will be used for salary change considerations, which will be voted on in May.
Contact reporter Bill Evans at wevans@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401.