Incline Village General Improvement District General Manager Bill Horn took time this week to respond to more controversial issues raised at a recent election forum.
During the Monday, May 3 candidate forum at The Chateau, Dennis Oliver, in his closing statement, mentioned what he feels are unnecessary perks and benefits provided to trustees.
Horn said allowing board members - and the district's full-time employees - free access to golf, ski and other recreational facilities is important because it allows trustees to interact with customers, gain knowledge of the facilities and receive feedback.
"Part of a trustee's job is to utilize facilities and interact with customers to know what they think," Horn said. "If they had to pay for access to the facilities, they might not use them as much as they should."
Horn said trustees are restricted to using the golf courses after 4 p.m., when there is not a high demand for rounds.
The five trustees and 109 full-time employees are granted perks, which also include discounts on food and merchandise at district-run enterprises. The district's 561 on-call, seasonal and part-time employees are not granted benefits.
Horn said employees are briefed concerning use of the recreational facilities and instructed to consider customers.
"If an employee is at the recreation center during a busy time, I would expect them to defer to the paying customer when it comes to the use of an exercise apparatus or the swimming pool," he said. "I've never had a complaint about an employee taking advantage of the benefits or interfering with a customer's experience at any of the facilities."
Horn said employees are not given preference regarding high-demand recreational areas with a limited space, such as the kayak racks, where there is a waiting list.
General manager's salry
During the May 3 forum, a resident question posed of IVGID candidate Sam Crowell asked his view of defining a general manager's bonus, considering Horn's salary is the same as the Nevada governor's, and exceeds 35 other state governor salaries.
This week, Horn said when he first assumed the general manager position in 2001, he promptly abolished three high-salaried positions.
"I eliminated three positions over $100,000 in 2001 including the community services director, the director of administrative services and an administrative assistant," said Horn, who said he has taken on the responsibilities of the three positions as well as general manager.
Horn will have made $187,389 once the current fiscal year ends on June 30, which includes a $23,985 contractual bonus the IVGID board approved 5-0 last July.
Furthermore, Ramona Cruz, IVGID's director of finance, accounting and information technology, also spoke to the $37,900 budget item proposed for the 2010-11 fiscal year for the replacement of the GM vehicle.
Cruz said the vehicle is not reserved for exclusive use of the general manager, but is rotated throughout the district according to need and the fleet manager's discretion.
"Every vehicle is up for replacement on a yearly basis, not just the general manager's," Cruz said.
