Letter: Gaming study is questionable

Monday, March 27, 2000 | 9:54 a.m.

Your March 15 article on the gaming industry's tax study put the gaming guys in a ludicrous posture. First it was released by the gaming lobby, which subsequently crowed that the state's tax structure hurts the gaming industry and its employees.

It should consider paying Nevada and its employees more because it is paying the lowest gaming tax in the world, paying its employees only a bit above minimum wage and providing only bare minimum employment services. In turn, the employees are forced to burden the infrastructure (schools, health services, etc.) to survive.

Is it possible that this release is a conflict of interest? Is it possible that this release is not based on fact?

Nevada gaming taxes should be doubled, not lowered. The same gaming people pay two to three times as much taxes in other states and overseas and apply the tax savings from Nevada to subsidize their new casinos outside of Nevada. Then they turn around and deduct the funds paid to Nevada from their federal corporate income tax. They seem to neglect the fact that they are hitting U.S. taxpayers who come to Nevada twice.

Nevada taxpayers need to know that, for the first time in Nevada history, sales tax revenues have exceeded gaming tax revenues. This is alarming.

Meanwhile our governor has stated that he is considering every type of state tax if he decides a tax increase is necessary. Yet, in the same breath, he reiterates that he opposes Sen. Joe Neal's petition to raise gaming taxes. Could he be speaking from both sides of his mouth?

GEORGE P. DIX

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