Gaming companies lead list of southern Nevada taxpayers

Monday, July 10, 2000 | 2:46 a.m.

Ten of Clark County's 15 largest taxpayers are gaming companies, reflecting a shift in the state's economy and the booming growth of megaresorts.

The total appraised value for all Clark County property in 1999-2000 was $85.8 billion, the county assessor's office reported.

The billions spent building megaresorts such as Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Paris and the Venetian helped fuel that total.

MGM MIRAGE's properties have a taxable appraised value of $4.13 billion. Comparatively, Mandalay Resort Group has $2.42 billion and Park Place Entertainment has $2.37 billion.

"The good news is we're almost twice the size of our nearest competitor. The bad news is we pay almost twice as many taxes," said Alan Feldman, MGM MIRAGE spokesman.

Tax Assessor Mark Schofield's office evaluates all Clark County property that is subject to taxation, including Strip megaresorts.

The county's top three taxpayers in the 1970s were utilities, but by the 1990s casino companies dominated the top of the list.

Mirage Resorts supplanted Nevada Power as the county's No. 1 taxpayer in 1995 after the utility spent decades in the top spot.

MGM Grand's acquisition of Mirage Resorts enabled the resulting MGM MIRAGE combination to easily surpass Mandalay Resort Group, which would have been the county's biggest taxpayer.

Clark County is the only county in Nevada to reappraise its property values every year, Schofield noted.

Nevada property is taxed according to the appraised value of a parcel of land and the current replacement cost of improvements on the land.

The assessor's office determines the replacement cost by calculating the amount and cost of materials it would take to replace a piece of property. A 1.5 percent per year depreciation factor is applied, for a maximum of 50 years.

Assessing a casino's value is straightforward, with one notable exception, Schofield said. The Marshall & Swift guide, the manual used by assessors, does not allow for the evaluation of some property improvements, such as the volcano at the Mirage.

Assessors must determine the cost of rebuilding the volcano from scratch, he said.