UNLV arena billed $500,000 for back taxes

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 10:57 a.m.

UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center has been assessed $500,000 in back taxes and interest on revenues the Internal Revenue Service has deemed profitable.

Pat Christenson, arena director, said the revenues should be tax-exempt because they pay for improvements and maintenance at the university-run center.

IRS officials say the arena can only claim exemptions for money that goes directly to education.

"I don't agree philosophically with the federal government taxing an entity that's not profiting," said Christenson. But, he said, the university intends to pay the assessment without a fight.

The IRS and university negotiated the $500,000 figure from an earlier assessment of $1.5 million.

"We've been assessed the penalty and the university is going to have to pay it," Christenson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

He added that the self-supporting Thomas & Mack does not have the money to pay the IRS, placing the responsibility for paying the bill on UNLV administrators.

This is the only infraction discovered by the IRS during an audit of the University and Community College System of Southern Nevada's 1996 and 1997 financial records, which began in summer 1998.

While $500,000 is a large amount for a public university to pay, Chancellor Tom Anderes said the Thomas & Mack Center makes enough in a year to support its $16 million operating budget. The arena plays a vital role in Las Vegas by hosting events such as the National Finals Rodeo, he added.

Keith Kimball, an IRS spokesman in Los Angeles, said the agency has a policy of not discussing penalties or settlements, even when such assessments are made against nonprofit entities.