Governor may hold up gaming, sales tax figures

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn is changing a longtime practice of immediately releasing gaming revenues and sales tax receipts to the public every month.

The state Gaming Control Board was scheduled today to report the casino gross win and taxes collected for the month of October. That was canceled. A spokesman said Guinn wanted additional analysis.

Greg Bortolin, press secretary for Guinn, confirmed gaming revenues sank in October, the first full month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But he did not how much.

"Because of the shortfall, the governor wants everybody to be on the same page," Bortolin said.

For at least the past 15 years, the Control Board has made public the gaming numbers when they are ready, rather than delaying them. Even when there was an economic downturn in the early 1990s, Gov. Bob Miller did not alter the practice. Miller met with the press regularly to give his analysis.

There was no explanation as to why the figures could not be made public today.

Guinn will meet with his economic advisers Wednesday including state Budget Director Perry Comeaux, economist Bill Anderson, Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander and state Taxation Director Dave Pursell to talk about the revenue picture.

Bortolin said the governor has "a very hands-on" approach in dealing with the economic problems that face state government. He said Guinn "took pencil to paper" Monday in going over the gaming figures.

The governor hopes to have some indication of the sales tax revenues soon, the spokesman said. Sales tax figures are traditionally released in mid-month. But there could be a delay as Guinn examines the figures, then makes his analysis.

Bortolin said there's no effort by Guinn to massage the figures. The delay is merely an effort to get a full picture of what the state is facing. Sales and gaming taxes account for more than 70 percent of the state's budget.

In September the gross revenue of casinos fell by 3.1 percent from the same month of 2000. Sales tax revenues plummeted 9.3 percent, the biggest decrease in a decade.

The tax receipts were down $25 million from what was projected by the Economic Forum. The state's budget is built on the estimates of the Economic Forum, a group of five laymen who are experts in finance.

Bortolin said he hoped the schedule of releasing the tax figures when they are ready could return to normal soon.