Citibank to stay in LV regardless of tax action

Thursday, April 17, 2003 | 11:26 a.m.

Citibank has no plans to leave Las Vegas, regardless of what kind of a tax package is approved by the Nevada Legislature.

A spokeswoman for the bank locally said the company has too much invested in Nevada to pull out.

The comment was made in response to an inquiry from a reporter after a speaker at a recent real estate trends breakfast said he had heard reports that Citibank could bail out of the Nevada market if a gross receipts tax was approved by lawmakers.

Dan Doherty, senior vice president of the Industrial Division of the Las Vegas office of Colliers International, was describing how California businesses tend to migrate to Nevada when events occur that make operating a business more expensive.

"Every time a new problem becomes prevalent, the lines light up and the phones keep ringing," Doherty said at the recent real estate trends breakfast. "It happened when they had their power problems and it's happening again with new workers' compensation legislation there."

That led panel moderator John Restrepo, principal of the Restrepo Consulting Group, to comment on how important it is for Nevada lawmakers to be careful about what types of tax packages they approve, since established Nevada companies would consider leaving the state. He said Citibank was a possible candidate to leave.

"We have a 45-acre campus with 1,950 employees on site and a hiring plan in 2003 for 200 new employees," said Barbara Mulholland, vice president of public affairs and government relations for Citibank Nevada. "Our business is growing here and we have land for a third building, but no immediate plans to start it. No, Citibank isn't going anywhere."

Mulholland said the bank, a subsidiary of New York-based Citigroup, has been monitoring the Nevada Legislature's movement toward imposing new taxes, but the company has no comment on what tax proposal it would favor.

"It's like a glass of mercury, it's fluid, always moving," Mulholland said of current tax proposals. "But we're committed to Nevada."

Contacted after the presentation, Restrepo said he did not recall where he had heard reports of Citibank considering leaving, but that he repeated information that he had gleaned from other sources.