On Aug. 4 the Reno-Gazette-Journal
and News Channel 4 ran the results of
a joint statewide opinion poll. The poll
was designed to ask likely voters about
issues that were a concern to them in the
upcoming elections. In an accompanying
story regarding voter responses to questions
about state tax shortfalls and subsequent
state budget crisis, 51 percent of
the respondents favored raising taxes on
casino operators and 24 percent preferred
to raise taxes on other state businesses.
In the face of a $275 million budget
shortfall, Gov. Kenny Guinn and the
Nevada Legislature created the
Governor's Task Force on Tax Policy to
review the current tax structure and generate
more revenue. The task force is
searching for new sources of revenue that
would broaden the tax base and stabilize
revenue in the wake of economic downturns.
The two culprits, according to
state budget director Perry Comeaux, are
sales tax and gaming taxes. Lower sales
and gaming taxes are connected to Sept.
11 events and the threat of northern
California Indian gaming.
How about the impact of Atlantic
City gaming on the state's overall gaming
industry? Atlantic City merely led to the
greatest gaming expansion in the state of
Nevada. The debate on the overall effect
of Indian gaming will continue into the
near future. Its short-term effects are
more likely to be a factor than the longterm,
doom-and-gloom scenarios being
predicted by many soothsayers.
How many beaches are there in the
world? Was Hawaii's tourism industry
shut down by Mexico's state-run expansion
of its hotels and beaches on both
coasts in the 1970s? How about the
Caribbean or the South Pacific? All
enjoy benefits of the tourism industry.
State Sen. Joe Neal (D-Las Vegas)
proposed a hike in gaming taxes to 10.25
percent last session from the current 6.25
percent. Guinn is unlikely to reveal his
new tax plan until after his November
reelection bid. Other "new" gaming states
have much higher gaming taxes, some
even as high as 50 percent. Casino operators
agree to pay them in exchange for
limited operator licenses. Some even
have paid taxes in advance to swing voter
approval. However, raising taxes on the
gaming industry doesn't achieve the governor's
goal of providing a broader, morestable
tax structure. An increase on sales
or property taxes is merely another shift
in tax burden. Many counties are already
near the maximum property tax level of
$3.64 per $1,000 valuation that was set
by the Legislature 20 years ago.
Nevada is also one of the few states
with no personal or corporate income tax.
This is considered to be a major draw for
attracting new business to the state.
The tax-policy task force meets for
the first time on August 21 and has to
have a package to the governor by Nov.
15. Panel member Luther Mack has said
that everything is on the table including
gaming taxes, sales taxes, property taxes,
service tax and a service tax. Personal
income taxes are prohibited by the state
constitution and would require that the
constitution be amended.
There is however, a new source that has
yet to be put on the table and held up for
discussion. This new source has yet to
reach the news and is perhaps the most
logical one. This is a long-term source that
is projected to last several years, perhaps
even longer. This source could provide this
state with a very stable source of revenue.
This source could continue to meet the
state's obligations and provide for future
ones. This will aid Nevada in providing an
educated and skilled workforce to meet the
needs of employers moving their businesses
to Nevada. This new source of revenue
needs to be supported by citizens and government
officials of the state of Nevada.
Nevada and its citizens put their
efforts into fighting a losing battle of
Nevada vs. the rest of the United States.
Nevadans should put on a hat and
support the Yucca Mountain Nuclear
repository. Despite the public rhetoric of
our elected officials, the federal government
will approve Yucca Mountain as its
official site.
We should take their nuclear waste
and tax them into the next millennium.
If we continue to delay this negotiation
and wait for it to be forced upon us we
deserve to miss out on the best opportunity
of our lifetime to shift the burden of
tax liability to governments and companies
out of state. My personal preference
is to make the income of Nevadans free
from federal income taxes. It is my contention
that the producers of the waste
not those who must live with it
who should be taxed to the hilt.
