Letter: Casinos don’t pay their share

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2002 | 9:28 a.m.

Tuesday's Las Vegas Sun had two front-page articles on the current state of Nevada's tax dollars and revenues. And no one has an answer other than creating more "sin" taxes such as those being proposed for cigarettes and liquor. Wow, what brains are at work in Carson City.

For years Joe Neal has been saying that the casinos don't pay their fair share, and for years he has been ignored. Well, he was right all along, and the sooner the public puts people in Carson City who can stand up to the Strip and other special-interest locales, we might not have a tax issue.

We are not likely to see a state lottery any time soon, because the Strip doesn't want gamblers to spend a few bucks on a lottery ticket. Assuming proper fiscal management, a state lottery could probably end all of our budget concerns, or at least curtail them dramatically.

The Strip mentality, which dominates at the expense of the real citizens of Nevada, is the reason we can't meet our budget needs.

JOHN J. HUELBIG JR.