NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Nearly two years ago, the I-Team exposed the City of North Las Vegas for its questionable use of tax money that was meant to hire more police officers. Now, the Nevada Attorney General laid down the law with an opinion that may impact police departments valley wide.
I-Team Reporter Colleen McCarty broke the story in 2009.
The City of North Las Vegas asked for the opinion more than 10 months ago, following criticism it violated both the spirit and the letter of the More Cops sales tax initiative -- a quarter cent increase passed in 2005 to put more police on patrol.
Last year, the city made amends for the misuse of more than $2 million of More Cops money, and the AG's opinion suggests North Las Vegas could be on the hook for millions more.
Instead of hiring additional police officers, in 2008 the former city manager added police on paper. He shifted 32 police officers already on the payroll out of the general fund and into the More Cops fund. The move reduced the burden on city coffers, but was a violation of the law.
According to the AG, cities must continue to pay for the same number of police officers on their rolls before the initiative passed and they can't spend less on police services than they spent the year before. Records suggest North Las Vegas did both.
"I think that they're not going to have much of a choice. They're going to have to move those officers back into funds where they belong and give the citizens what they were expecting, what they voted for," said Leonard Cardinale with the North Las Vegas Police Supervisor's Union.
A review of city records found North Las Vegas hired fewer than half the police initially approved under More Cops. A spokeswoman says they are evaluating the AG's opinion and would not comment on how the city plans to proceed.
The opinion has the potential to impact department's valley wide. Given current budget constraints, many cities either already have, or plan to cut spending on police services. According to the AG, doing so would violate the More Cops requirements.
There is already talk among legislators as to whether they should amend the law.
