Trucking lobbyist upset at proposal

Larry Henry

Friday, March 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Daryl Capurro is mad at casinos for trying to steamroll the group he represents at the Legislature, Nevada truckers.

The Nevada Resort Association, the gaming industry's lobbying arm, has hired former state Transportation Director Garth Dull to develop a plan to stick a weight/distance tax on the trucking industry. Casinos want to widen the interstate between Las Vegas and California.

Capurro says the tax is unreliable because the administrative cost is 25 percent of the money collected and the evasion rate is high -- up to 35 percent. That would mean building an entire system of booths to check truckers. Plus, Capurro says, in-state truckers would take a beating on the tax.

What really angers Capurro, however, is that the casino industry never consulted with trucking lobbyists -- namely, Capurro -- about the plan. Common courtesy at the Legislature dictates that one special interest group trying to hammer another at least works out a compromise.

Not so with gaming lobbyists, who this session have been busy trying to make others pay for things that benefit casinos. Another example of that is the way gamers are spearheading a drive to raise water rates by 72 percent and sales taxes by a quarter-cent in Clark County for a water project that will help Las Vegas -- and the casino industry -- grow.

"There's no question we're upset that another industry could be proposing taxes on this industry without talking to us about it," Capurro said.

School construction

While many officials give lip service to solving growth problems in Las Vegas, two legislators are working toward a bipartisan plan to do something about it.

Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, and Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City, have devised what they say is a low-cost method for getting the state involved in building schools.

As it stands, individual school districts are responsible for raising tax dollars for construction, but that's creating a problem in some areas where voters don't want their taxes to go up.

In Las Vegas, rapid growth is making it difficult for the district to build enough schools. Superintendent Brian Cram says Clark County needs a new elementary school every 30 days.

That's where Goldwater and Porter come in. They've come up with a formula using an increase in room and real estate transaction taxes in Clark County, combined with $7.4 million in state funds, to give each county money to build schools.

The test will come in their ability as salesmen. Gov. Bob Miller, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, oppose using state money for school construction.