Poll renews focus on gaming’s share of tax load

Thursday, March 18, 1999 | 3:46 a.m.

A top casino-industry leader says he's not surprised that a new poll shows Southern Nevadans overwhelmingly support raising gaming taxes to fund growth.

The poll, conducted for the Sun and Las Vegas 1 by the Cannon Center for Survey Research at UNLV, found that 80 percent of those questioned favored a tax on gaming revenues to pay for increased spending on such things as education, parks and recreation, streets and highways and police and fire services.

"Historically, if you ask people if they want to raise somebody else's taxes or their own, they tend to opt for somebody else's," said Mike Sloan, chairman of the Nevada Resort Association, the casino industry's political arm. "We're the most visible, so I'm not surprised by this."

But Sloan added: "When people understand the true economics of the issue, I'm quite comfortable they would choose to consider taxing people who pay no taxes in business before they would raise our taxes."

State Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, who's spearheading a campaign in the Legislature to raise the tax on gaming revenues from 6.25 percent to 8.25 percent, says he's encouraged by the latest poll results.

A survey made public by UNLV in December showed 71 percent of Southern Nevadans backed a hike in gaming taxes, he said.

"This tells us that people in Clark County are very much aware that gaming is not paying its fair share for the infrastructure needs and other needs of this state," he said. "They want gaming to ante up and help pay for some of those needs."

Neal's measure to raise the gaming tax faces stiff opposition in the Legislature, and most observers are predicting the bill won't make it out of the Senate Taxation Committee. The casino industry has a team of high-paid lobbyists working to kill the bill.

The Sun-Las Vegas 1 telephone poll, which interviewed 610 adults from Feb. 25 to March 7, found that Southern Nevadans don't want a personal income tax or higher property taxes to pay for growth. The overwhelming majority of those interviewed favor an increase in gaming, alcohol and cigarette taxes.

"Nevada is a very populist state, and along with that populism goes a ... mistrust of corporate America," UNLV political science professor Steve Parker said. "Frequently, that mistrust is perceived in tax terms as the corporations not paying their fair share, and I think that's what's going on here."

Parker said the casino industry has the "deep pockets" in Nevada, and the populist solution is to hit the deep pockets.

Sloan, vice president and general counsel for Circus Circus Enterprises Inc., said most polls he's seen in the past decade have found that Nevadans don't want anyone's taxes raised but rather prefer that the government spend its money more responsibly.

If more taxes are needed, he said, he believes there are at least as many people who favor imposing a tax on developers and retailers as those interested in raising gaming's share.

The Sun poll, however, found that only 55 percent of those surveyed backed a tax on corporate profits.

When those questioned were asked whether they favored more taxes or a state-run lottery to pay for additional services, 61 percent supported the lottery.

Parker said a lottery is popular in states across the country because most people think somebody else is paying for it.

"It's really a tax, but people don't see it that way," he said.

Neal said he has tried in the past to persuade his legislative colleagues to back a constitutional amendment creating a lottery but always has come up short because the casino industry has opposed it.

He said he likes the idea as long as all of the money collected goes directly to the state.

But the veteran senator doesn't see a lottery, now in 37 states, as an alternative to higher gaming taxes.

"I think gaming can stand the 2 percent we're talking about," he said. "It won't hurt them."

Neal said he plans to pursue a ballot initiative seeking higher gaming taxes if the Legislature kills his bill.

For more coverage, watch Las Vegas 1 on March 18, 1999.