City Council delays Boyd vote

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday postponed a vote to change an agreement with Boyd Gaming Corp. that would have settled the company's purchase of 3.4 acres downtown at a price that is millions of dollars below the value placed on the land by the Clark County assessor's office.

The council members agreed to delay action on the matter until its next meeting on Feb. 2 so Mayor Oscar Goodman could be present for the vote. Goodman was in Washington, D.C., for a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Wednesday.

The proposed amendment would end a deal that originally called for Boyd to build a parking garage downtown, and instead put money into a planned performing arts center the company's outgoing president is spearheading.

The amendment would essentially take $2 million from Boyd and relieve the company from any further requirements from the city that came when the city agreed to sell property next to Main Street Station to Boyd for $1.

The taxable value of the land today is $5.9 million, according to the county assessor, and taxable value is typically significantly lower than market value. Boyd and city representatives have said the T-shaped property, which straddles the Ogden Avenue underpass, is worth much less than $6 million.