Gaming firms again pay most property tax in Clark County

Jennifer Shubinski

Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 | 10:44 a.m.

Clark County's largest property taxpayers came as no surprise: The county's largest gaming companies dominated this year's list as in years past.

While most of the top 10 largest property taxpayers experienced modest increases in their appraised values, a couple had large increases over the previous year and next year most likely will have to deal with one of the largest property tax increases, percentage wise, in Clark County history.

The top two property taxpayers in 2004-2005 in Clark County, MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group saw increases of 6.3 percent and 2 percent respectively, according to the Clark County Assessor's office.

The secured/unsecured tax roll includes land, improvements such as buildings and business personal property, which can include everything from slot machines to office equipment to hotel furnishings.

From the appraised value, the Clark County Assessor's Office determines the assessed value, which is 35 percent of the appraised -- or full cash value. That number is then multiplied by the applicable tax rate.

The casino company that saw the largest increase in property values was Boyd Gaming Corp., with a 184.8 percent increase over the previous year. The reason for the large jump was the merger between Boyd Gaming and Coast Casinos.

The largest increase from a nongaming company included in the top 10 was the Rouse Co., which was acquired by General Growth Properties this year. The Rouse Co., which is the developer of Summerlin and owner of the Fashion Show mall, saw its appraised value increase 33 percent to $1.9 billion over the previous year.

Overall, the increases in appraised values is encouraging for state coffers that saw values remain flat or increase only slightly following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Changes, either up or down, in the past year are most likely due to acquisitions, mergers and sales, said Rocky Steele, assistant director of assessment services.

Steele said it is hard to compare a property's appraised values year over year because the properties themselves are not static entities.

"It looks like it should be static, but it's not," he said. "There are all kinds of variables that go into it."

While increases during the 2004-2005 tax year were fairly modest, the top 10 are being hit with huge increases in property values for the 2005-2006 year, just as many residential property owners are.

Overall, Strip appraised land values are expected to increase an average of 76 percent.

Steele said that does not equate to how much the actual taxes will increase, but it gives a good idea, based on land values, that Strip properties will see a substantial increase in taxes.

He said the increase is being driven by land sales in the area.

The area that will see the largest increase in 2005/2006 appraised land values is the portion of the Strip from Sands Avenue to Flamingo Road. That area, referred to as the central Strip by the assessor's office, will experience a 106.71 percent increase in appraised land value year over year.

Steele said all property owners have been notified and he is not aware of any appeals at this point. Property owners, both commercial and residential, have until Jan. 18 to file formal appeals with the assessor's office.

John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group, said values will inevitably go up because Las Vegas is the place people want to be and want to invest their money.

"There is a lot of demand for land along the Strip, for both casino resort-type demand and to just be near the Strip and for the high-rise residential component," he said. "It's incredible demand for a very scarce resource."