No deal on rebate plan as session nears end

Monday, June 6, 2005 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- As the legislative session inched closer to adjournment, negotiations with Gov. Kenny Guinn continued today in hopes of reaching a compromise on his $300 million rebate plan.

The Assembly unanimously approved the bill to provide $175 to every person 18 years and older who had a driver's license last year. The Senate, by a 17-4 vote, agreed to reduce the business tax rate from 0.65 to 0.63 percent on gross payroll.

In urging passage of the Assembly's alternative to spread out the rebate to more Nevadans, Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said the plan in Assembly Bill 572 was a better approach to getting tax revenue back to taxpayers.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, told the Assembly Ways and Means Committee that the average motorist spends $115 a year on gasoline taxes. This plan, he said would hit the broadest segment of the population.

He said the money would not be taxed.

He was backed up by Brenda Erdoes, the chief attorney for the Legislature, who said her research and talk with professors at the Boyd School of Law show the plan is not taxable by the federal government

The rebate would go to 1.5 million people with driver's licenses last year and to 105,000 people over 55 who had identification cards instead of licenses.

The governor proposed giving vehicle owners a rebate on their registration. The rebate would be based on the car's age and the registration fee, so the owner of a new car would receive $300 and the rebate would lessen the older the car was.

The governor is now looking at a new rebate plan where a minimum of $50 would go to the individuals with the lower priced vehicles. His original plan showed the owners of more than 750,000 vehicles would receive anywhere from a $5 rebate to $50.

Meanwhile, Senate opponents of the business tax reduction argued that the money would be invested better by government in community projects or increasing benefits to veterans and reservists.

But Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, had a different idea.

"I would like to see the $15 million invested by citizens and not by 63," he said, referring to the members of the Legislature.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, suggested it was not a "meaningful" tax reduction. He said a company with a $100,000 payroll would save $16.50 a month. "Tax cuts are good when you don't need the money," he said.

Coffin added he would think of more uses for the $15 million such as taking care "the (military) veterans and reservists. He has been unsuccessful in his attempt to give bonuses of up to $500 a month to Nevada National Guard members and reservists. His plan would have cost $25 million.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said the $15 million could be put into community projects such as restoring landmarks like Pipers Opera House in Virginia City. He said that would create jobs.

Schneider complained that government was "short-sighted" in investing and did not look into the future. He suggested the Senate consider where the state will be 10 years from now.

Beers said the $15 million was left over from the state's spending program. He said when government grows the economy slows down. "Government does not invest as good as private" business.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, R-Las Vegas, said she wanted to help private business, but she said her support of SB524 comes only if there was a compromise on the $300 million tax rebate.

She said under Gov. Kenny Guinn's tax plan, business would profit the most since they would get rebates on all of their cars. She wants to see more people get part of the $300 million.

Voting no on SB523 were Coffin, Schneider, Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, and Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas.

Meanwhile a bill to give a property tax break to owners of golf courses hit a snag. A Senate-Assembly conference committee approved Senate Bill 394 that among other things would value an acre on a golf course at $2,860 -- for tax purposes it would be $1,000.

The bill puts golf courses as open space land.

When the bill came before the full Senate for approval, Sens. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, and Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, said this was the first time they had seen the golf course plan. Both are members of the Senate Taxation Committee.

Care questioned where the $2,860 figure came from. He questioned whether a golf course in Las Vegas would be valued the same as a nine-hole course in Winnemucca.

He said the Legislature does not set a uniform price for residential property. He suggested this was a last minute move by lobbyists.

The Senate delayed until today consideration of SB394.

Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield said the taxable value on an acre of golf course in Southern Nevada ranges from $10,000 to $25,000 an acre.

The highest value of $25,000 is assigned to a golf course at a resort; $20,000 an acre at a public course; $15,000 at a semi-private course and $10,000 an acre at a private course, Schofield said.

Washoe County Assessor Bob McGowan said the value of an acre on a golf course ranges from $8,000 to $15,000. He said the legislative measure was driven by Billy Walters' desire for a tax break. Walters owns four golf courses in Clark County, according to assessor records.