Letter: All companies should ante up

Friday, April 6, 2001 | 4:51 a.m.

Ruthe Deskin recently wrote a column on the apparent unwillingness of the gaming industry to shoulder a larger share of the cost of state government, which is having trouble keeping pace with growth. Unfortunately, she didn't mention that gaming already provides nearly one half of the total state tax revenue.

Gaming critics point out that the tax rates for riverboats and casinos in other states are higher than Nevada's rate. What they don't point out is that most of the casinos in those states are inexpensive riverboats operating under semi-monopolistic conditions as opposed to the intensely competitive Las Vegas market.

More importantly, they also fail to mention that private citizens and/or businesses pay income taxes in all of those same states, and that gaming taxes make up less than 5 percent of the total state revenue in those states. Other businesses in Nevada don't have a "low" tax rate like gaming -- they have no tax rate.

Now no one is suggesting a personal income tax in Nevada, but why don't businesses that have profited from the tremendous growth in Clark County during the past decade pay a portion of their revenue or profit to help fund our schools and other necessary services? After all, they have helped create the growth. In other states, homebuilders, cable companies and, yes, even newspapers pay income taxes.

If more revenue is needed, all businesses should pay their fair share. But singling out gaming, or mining or anyone else is the wrong way to go.

MIKE H. SLOAN Senior vice president, Mandalay Resort Group