The Las Vegas City Council isn’t requesting a draft bill for the state Legislature to study consolidating the city and county governments, but that doesn’t mean the issue is dead.
After a brief special meeting today, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman reiterated her support for such a study but acknowledged timing was a barrier. The city has until Sept. 1 to submit up to three bill draft requests to the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
“I’m hopeful it still could be something we’d look at to get in front of the Legislature,” she said.
Goodman floated the idea at last week’s council meeting as city staff presented recommended legislative priorities for the upcoming session.
Her suggestion coincided with ongoing tensions between Clark County and the city over everything from land annexations to public-safety funding.
Consolidation historically has been a touchy subject — and one that resurfaces every few years. Serious conversations about merging the two governments occurred in the 1970s and again in the early 1990s.
“It’s just been such a long time since we really looked at the cost effectiveness,” she said. “It really is about taking the taxpayer dollar and stretching it as far as we can.”
The consolidation issue dominated much of the council’s discussion about bill draft requests last week and triggered the special meeting to finish the conversation. But the topic was not discussed today.
Instead, the council swiftly approved bill draft requests regarding Medicaid reimbursements for emergency transports and redevelopment funds set aside for education. Another requested bill draft would require certain safety features in residential buildings taller than 75 feet tall as opposed to 55 feet, which is the state’s current standard.
City staff said the change would align the state with the International Code Council recommendations. Las Vegas Fire & Rescue officials told the council last week that they were comfortable with the change.
Councilman Bob Coffin, who participated in today’s meeting by phone, voted against the proposed change, citing safety-related concerns. Councilman Ricki Barlow also voted no.
Councilman Stavros Anthony had an excused absence from today’s meeting and did not vote on the bill draft requests.
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