The Pahrump Town Board approved the final budget at a special meeting last Thursday, opting to fund four additional full-time Pahrump Valley Fire Rescue Service employees and six part-time employees, despite formally stated opposition by Town Manager Dave Richards.

A fifth full-time firefighter will be budgeted in for the next fiscal year, depending on the town's finances.

The five will be funded through the general fund, with the six-part time EMTs funded by money already budgeted in the ambulance fund for intermittent employees.

The board has repeatedly stated the fire department is a priority and held several additional meetings during the past two weeks in an attempt to find funding for additional staff.

The main problem is that new fire-rescue employees are a continuing expense, with each costing roughly $100,000 annually.

In an attempt to scrape up enough money within the existing funds, the board opted to remove a $200,000 annual transfer from the general fund to the ambulance fund as well as another $200,000 transfer from the general fund to the general fund capital fund.

That gives the town an additional $400,000 to work with, but that's only for this year, as both Financial Director Mike Sullivan and Richards pointed out.

"We're scrambling to come up with $400,000," Sullivan pointed out to the board. "We're using one-time money here to create an ongoing liability of operating expense."

The financial director stressed that although this year, after the bills are paid, the town's piggy bank has $821,063 in it, that will not be the case in years to come.

A five-year projection showed the town's ending balance at minus-$695,412 in fiscal year 2010, and more than $2 million in the red by 2012.

Furthermore, Sullivan warned the board that it would see the ramifications of the 3 percent cap on property taxes, which will take a bite out of revenue generated for the town in spite of an increase in valuation and population.

An additional financial hurdle is less revenue from consolidated taxes projected by the state.

Given all of these factors, Richards also recommended that the board hold off on hiring additional fire-rescue staff.

"It is my opinion that the projected negative fund balances will compromise the viability of the town's finances and jeopardize our ability to provide services in the future," Richards said, reading aloud from his written recommendations.

Instead, Richards recommended the board wait until the state legislative session ends and see if the sales tax has been resurrected, and then provide for additional staff.

Undaunted, the board once again voiced unwavering support for the fire department, citing sheer necessity and the safety of Pahrump's residents.

Vice Chairman John McDonald said he had found past budgets to be "overly pessimistic" and stressed that if the town found itself looking at impending financial jeopardy, adjustments could always be made.

"It isn't like we'll suddenly find ourselves broke," McDonald said. "We have to prioritize."

Don Rust added that the board's decision wasn't "based on optimism -- it's based on what needs to be done."

"If I can't provide the citizens of the town with a fire department and assure their safety, then I don't think we're much of a town board," Dan Sprouse said. "The people are needed right now, not down the road. I need to know that we exhausted all options."

Sprouse also said that if it came down to having to fire other employees to cut down on expenses, than that was an option he would be willing to consider.

The board will continue to explore ways to generate additional revenue.

McDonald pointed out that if residents want to assist the fire department and its cash flow, they could do so by paying their ambulance bills, a chronic and perpetual problem that has left a noticeable hole in the department's budget.