Friday, June 21, 2002 | 4:52 a.m.
THE OLD ADAGE that proclaims taxation policy comes down to "don't tax you, don't tax me, tax the guy behind the tree" leaves only a few businesses in Nevada hiding behind the palms these days.
The state's leading industries -- gaming and mining -- want you and me and the politicians to know that they are good citizens who pay taxes and shouldn't be burdened because a few newcomers are messing things up.
Slick ad campaigns by both industries are clear signals that lawmakers can't ignore, but not for the reasons gaming and mining think.
The industries, which are Nevada's biggest employers and pay roughly half the state's budget in taxes, are trying to duck new taxes by spinning what's an ugly truth of the debate: The average Joe is going to pay.
But you wouldn't know that by reading gaming and mining's positions.
On the eve of last week's Nevada Task Force on Tax Policy meeting -- the group charged with solving the state's revenue problems -- the Nevada Resort Association distributed a 28-page corporate report filled with "facts" about taxes and gaming.
"The Nevada Resort Association recognizes that Nevada's state government faces future funding deficits because of its narrow tax base and increasing demands for increased state services caused by significant non-gaming-related population growth," the report reads.
Future deficits? Oh, that's why Gov. Kenny Guinn has spent the past 12 months hacking away at the general fund, freezing hirings and program implementations and musing about the lack of concern from the public over his slashing of $10 million, $20 million, $30 million and counting.
The future is here: The state needs to plug a whopping $210 million hole in the next 12 months and doesn't have the revenue to do it.
And that non-gaming-related population growth? What's that, retirees? Take a look around your neighborhood casino -- you know, the ones for the residents -- and see just how young the crowd playing slots is.
The gaming industry is a giant in Nevada, employing about one-quarter of the state's workforce (none of whom evidently moved here for casino jobs).
The industry's tax publication touts a bellman imploring policy makers to understand the glory of gaming.
"I used to make about 17 cents an hour working on a farm," says Clester Nelson, smiling in his uniform. "Now, thanks to investing my salary, I own four houses, commercial property and undeveloped land around town."
The NRA doesn't mind if such rags-to-riches stories get some ink now during the tax proposal season, especially since they're so effusive in their praise of gaming.
And while the NRA officially "stands ready to pay its fair and proportionate share of any new taxes," it's bellmen like Nelson who are going to be the ones literally left holding the bag if early discussions are any indication of how revenues will be raised.
Income taxes and property taxes are probably going to be part of a proposed solution that will likely toss a small levy at the business community.
If the current talk becomes reality, Nelson will cough up thousands more in property tax on those four houses and the land. And, who knows, in about six years after some hoodwinking of the public to pass an income tax, those investments will bring some nice returns to the state.
That commercial property Mr. Nelson is so proud of better not make too much money, because the tax man's coming after either gross receipts or net profits on businesses from Target on down. But not gaming or mining if those industries can help it.
The mining industry jumped into the tax awareness service first, airing television spots hyping a high school in Elko County that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the mining companies.
What the ad doesn't spell out is that the "contributions" are actually the portion of the mining taxes that go to local governments.
But that doesn't matter. Mining says it is doing its part, and is joining with the other good corporate citizen, gaming, to prove it.
You'd think that neither industry had a representative at the task force's table.
Not only are they at the table, they're also in the technical working group that crunches the numbers and tells the others which taxes will generate the most.
Businesses are represented on the task force, too. Will that stop another campaign -- maybe by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to voice how business contributes?
Probably not since since the chamber started a campaign at the end of the 2001 Legislature, promising it would come with a plan to tax itself. The "responsible citizen" ads would just be overkill.
You can bet that gaming and mining will skate on new taxes. You can bet that other businesses will get see a minor tax. You can bank on it that the real burden will fall on the little guys -- you and me, Clester Nelson, a teacher in Elko, and anyone else ducking for cover in the cottonwoods.
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