SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
LAS VEGAS — Newly updated salary data on more than 75,000 government employees statewide is now available at TransparentNevada.com, the Nevada Policy Research Institute’s website that makes public-spending information easily accessible to taxpayers.
New 2010 data — covering more than 20 government jurisdictions throughout Nevada, including state, county and city levels — is just one of several new features available at the redesigned and streamlined site, where data is now easier to search than ever before.
“Thanks to the information available at TransparentNevada, Nevada’s citizens, media members and lawmakers will now be able to easily see exactly how much government employees are being paid,” said Steven Miller, NPRI’s vice president for policy.
“For instance, more than 500 government employees throughout the state can be seen to have received over $200,000 last year in total compensation,” he said. That list includes a North Las Vegas chief marshal who made over $790,000, a city clerk in Henderson who received over $625,000 and a director of leisure services in Las Vegas who was paid over $340,000.
“Such outrageous levels of spending are obviously destructive,” said Miller. “As governments at all levels in Nevada claim poverty and the City of North Las Vegas is on the verge of fiscal collapse, this data shows that inflated government salaries, especially at city and county levels, are at the root of the state’s problems.”
New features offered by TransparentNevada include congressional disbursements from July 2009 through March 2011, contracts approved by the state Board of Examiner, an enhanced search function and payments approved by the Clark County School District.
“The data at TransparentNevada shows that, even during these challenging economic times, compensation for many county and city workers remains extravagant,” said Miller. “This situation demonstrates the need for serious reform of Nevada’s collective bargaining law, if not outright repeal.
“Much greater transparency is also needed in salary negotiations,” Miller added. “The current secrecy in negotiations no doubt is a reason Nevada taxpayers regularly get saddled with these inflated public-employee salaries. Taxpayers deserve to know what the politicians are offering government-employee unions before the damaging deals are done.”
TransparentNevada, was first launched in September 2008 and has served as a unique source of government-financing information for thousands of citizens, journalists and elected officials. Miller said that in addition to the newly available information, the site will be adding salary data from even more jurisdictions in the coming weeks.
