Task force chief: Gaming firms to be hit by tax hike

Kevin Rademacher

Tuesday, May 27, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

Nevada's gaming industry will not escape new taxes.

The head of Nevada's Task Force on Tax Policy made that point Friday when he outlined the effect a proposed gross receipts tax plan would have on the industry at the Financial Executives Gaming Forum in Las Vegas.

Guy Hobbs, chairman of the tax task force, said gaming companies will face a quarter to half a percentage point increase in gaming taxes, new taxes on items such as liquor sales and an increased per-employee head tax.

"Last time I checked they were pretty big employers," he said. "They are going to participate heavily in these taxes."

After months of debate over new taxes, Hobbs emphasized that gross receipts still appears to be the best long-term solution to solving a budget deficit that threatens to hit $1 billion over the next biennium.

"You need some stability in your budget," Hobbs said. "Gross receipts does that."

The gross receipts tax promises to be less volatile over time than other alternatives and provides the fewest opportunities for manipulation, he said, adding that the need for new taxes is real.

"There seems to be this belief that someone is going to have an epiphany and wake up in the morning with a silver bullet under their pillow that's going to raise $1 billion in new taxes and no one is going to have to pay more tax," Hobbs said. "That's not going to happen."

One of the alternatives batted around in the Legislature is cutting expenses to reduce the need for new taxes. Hobbs said time is running out for those critics of new tax plans.

"We do have an imbalance in this state between revenue and expenditures," he said. "Some have said we need to cut expenditures. When they do that, with (seven) days to go in the session, they are going to have to get more specific about what they mean. They haven't done that yet."

While time runs out on the legislative session, Hobbs is still confident an agreement can be reached.

"I still think we can make it," he said.