Room tax will not pay for growth

Jeff Schweers

Friday, May 16, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Members of a board that decides how millions in room-tax revenue is spent every year have let one of their colleagues know they don't want to divert any funds to help pay for growth-related needs.

They criticized fellow board member Mary Kincaid, a county commissioner, for suggesting that some of the excess revenue coming from new hotel rooms could be better used on parks, roads and fire and police protection.

"It makes me nervous when we start talking about infrastructure concerns and other things we might spend the excess on," said board member Don Snyder, who also is chairman of the Boyd Gaming Group.

Snyder said people have to be mindful of the fragile aspect of the gaming and tourist economy and not tinker with success.

Boulder City Councilwoman Iris Bletsch agreed, saying the LVCVA knows best how to spend the room-tax revenue.

The debate came as the board considered a $120 million LVCVA budget for 1997-98, a $7.7 million increase owed mostly to a 7 percent boost in room-tax revenue, and a 6 percent jump in convention revenue. The budget has an ending fund balance of $14 million.

The approved budget includes a $4.3 million increase in the convention authority's $48 million budget. That includes $1.5 million added to a $25.6 million advertising budget handled by R&R Advertising.

"I wonder out loud whether really that much more money has to be spent to promote an extra 20,000 rooms than is spent now," Kincaid said. "It seems like we already have a very good ad campaign and promotions."

Richard Bunker, the executive director of the Nevada Resort Association, also defended the LVCVA's spending practices. Although the NRA has offered to increase the room tax by 1 percent to help pay for new school construction, he said tourists would stop coming if the room tax was raised much higher.

Kincaid said she was only suggesting existing room-tax revenue be diverted to growth needs, noting that revenue will continue to increase as 20,000 new rooms come on line in the next couple of years.

"There's a direct correlation to hotel rooms being built and the problems we're having with growth," Kincaid said, estimating seven new jobs are created for every new hotel room. "Some of that uncommitted revenue can be used to help."

Kincaid also noted that several groups were talking about starting a ballot initiative to raise the gross gaming revenue tax. "Wouldn't that be more harmful than using existing revenue," she asked.

Bunker vowed to use every resource available to fight a gaming tax ballot initiative.

Kincaid also criticized fellow board members for starting rumors she wanted to shut down the LVCVA and Las Vegas Events, a private corporation that subsists entirely on grants from room taxes and produces the National Finals Rodeo.

Kincaid had called for more public accountability of Las Vegas Events, which receives $3 million in public funds from the LVCVA, but decides in private how to spend that money. Kincaid questioned a proposal to give $100,000 to Promise Keepers, a fundamentalist Christian organization.

Las Vegas Events officials said they are a private organization and therefore not subject to the open meeting law.

Commissioner Lorraine Hunt, who chairs the LVCVA board, said the organization provides monthly reports and is audited each year. Kincaid said that information came after the fact.

Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who will get $500,000 from Las Vegas Events for the Fremont Street Experience, defended the organization.

The only other board member to ask questions about the LVCVA and LVE budgets was Donald Givens, vice president and general manager of the Luxor hotel-casino.

"I don't think they felt that my concerns were valid, so I would doubt if anything is going to come of it," Kincaid said. "At some point we have to start finding ways to address the infrastructure. Somebody today said maybe we should quit building hotel rooms. If that's what they like, then maybe that can be done too."