Brothels may be asked to pitch in more revenues

Erin Neff

Monday, Jan. 27, 2003 | 11 a.m.

Cigarettes and booze are already on the table, but some lawmakers are looking at an original sin tax.

The brothel industry may have to bare more than just skin as Nevada faces a $704 million deficit, it may also find itself bearing more of the state's tax burden.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has proposed a 7.3 percent tax on amusements or admissions, with exemptions for participatory sports and activities already covered by other state taxes.

But Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie's motto is: "Everybody pays or nobody pays."

"I think the brothel industry, in my mind, is clearly an entertainment industry, and I think they need to be part of the comprehensive tax package," Leslie, D-Reno, said. "If everybody pays their fair share, we might be able to lower the entertainment tax."

George Flint, executive director of the Nevada Brothel Association, said he does not think his industry should be exposed to the amusement tax.

"I don't look at sex as either an amusement or an admission," Flint said. "It's a needed social service that I think falls in the same category as therapeutic massage or physical therapy or is in the same class as chiropractors."

Brothels are big business in some rural Nevada counties that permit the regulated and licensed sex trade. Prostitution is illegal in Clark and Washoe counties.

Storey County, for example, got $250,000 of its $8 million budget last year, from brothels' local licensing fees.

Flint said his industry is not necessarily opposed to Guinn's total tax proposal, but does have concerns about having to spend more money.

Already some brothels would be subject to the proposed one quarter of 1 percent tax on gross receipts over $450,000, Flint said, without revealing the exact number.

But since most women who provide services at brothels are independent contractors, they would not be subject to the state's so-called business head tax -- $100 per employee per year.

Leslie said she does not think business will slow down at brothels if the state adds a 7.3 percent tax.

"The guys aren't going to stop going there just because the state gets a little more," Leslie said.