Tax panel delays action on artwork exemptions

Friday, June 26, 1998 | 11:29 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Tax Commission has delayed adopting a regulation for tax exemptions for those who display fine art after an attorney for Steve Wynn's Mirage Resorts Inc. said there needs to be changes.

Wynn purchased some $278 million in art to be displayed in the Bellagio hotel-casino scheduled to open Oct. 15 on the Las Vegas Strip. The 1997 Legislature approved a bill giving an exemption from personal property tax and the sales tax if the works are put on public display.

Attorney Jeff Conway, representing Mirage Resorts, submitted suggested language for changes in the regulation that set the rules for getting the exemption. For instance, he said, there is no mechanism for applying for the sales tax exemption in the proposed regulation and there's nothing to define a nominal charge that museums or casinos can assess for viewing the works of art.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, who also is a candidate for governor, said he appreciated the decision by the commission to delay the adoption of the regulation so he could study it further. "What we're doing is taking money away from school kids and giving tax breaks to the wealthy," Neal said.

Neal has objected to the regulation saying museums and casinos can charge a fee and still get the exemption. If they get a tax break, they should not charge a fee, Neal said. He also objected to the proposed rule defining public display. Art at the Mirage hotel-casino is in the baccarat room. "The public doesn't go into the baccarat room," he said.

Dino DiCianno, deputy executive director of the state Department of Taxation, asked the commission to delay any action so another workshop might be held to work out some of the language in the regulation. The commission doesn't meet again until August.

As it is now written, the regulation gives a tax exemption for works of art purchased for more than $25,000. The artwork also must be on public display for at least 20 hours per week for at least 35 weeks a year. It requires the buyer of the art to qualify for the exemption to notify every school in the county within 30 days of purchase.

The purchase by Mirage Resorts of which Wynn owns 12 percent includes such masters as Picasso, Cezanne, Manet, Van Gogh and Renoir.

The Mirage has already applied to the Clark County assessor's office for the personal property tax break which would amount to a savings of about $2.74 million.