THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BEERS

Joe Schoenmann and J. Patrick Coolican

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

There were few things by which to remember the panic-driven feeding frenzy known as the 2007 legislative session. Rare were the moments of statesmanship, flurries of words or speeches that reminded lawmakers of their idealistic youth and the reason they become involved in politics.

There was, however, some interesting spin.

Politics in Nevada are a blend of fact, fiction, threats, diversions and, yes, out-and-out lies. And, like politicians the country over, Nevada's find "spin" a necessity when trying to defend what might be indefensible, or trying to discredit those who stand in their way.

One of the masters is Sen. Bob Beers.

The Las Vegas Republican wields and presents facts with such spin, even foes have to pause in wonder before cursing under their breath. In fairness to the senator and readers, we've tried here to separate Beersspin from reality.

Beers often says publicly, privately and in any forum that will let him, that Nevada has increased taxes more per capita than any state this decade, other than New Jersey.

Although Beers' statement is technically correct, without any context, Beers would have Nevada seeming like some crazy Western imitation of East Coast tax-and-spend states everyone fled West to escape.

In fact, Nevada is still roughly in the bottom quarter of taxes paid per capita. Moreover, 27 percent of state revenue during the next biennium will come from gaming, meaning, to a significant degree, tourists. And, an estimated 30 percent of sales taxes are paid by taxpayers from out of state.

The tax increases to which Beers refers were actually the tax increases of 2003. Two years later Gov. Kenny Guinn gave a huge chunk of that back in the form of car-registration rebates.

The senator says modern roads are built to such high standards that they withstand the effects of both semis and cars.

Dr. Mohammed Kaseko, assistant professor of civil engineering at UNLV, said the basic assumption in road design is that the number of passenger cars determines the number of lanes, but trucks determine how thick the road will be. The more trucks, the thicker the road and the more expensive the construction.

Kaseko's response to anyone who might say that trucks cause a little damage to roads? "That would be the understatement of the year."

After the governor's transportation plan proposed taking money from future budgets of the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority, Beers wrote this nugget on his Internet blog: "The LVCVA's expansion project pencils out at $10,000 construction cost per square foot of functional, billable convention space, so it might not be all bad if this controversy causes a second, more deliberate, examination of their project."

That's right, he's saying the LVCVA is spending $10,000 per square foot to build an expansion.

According to the LVCVA, the actual construction cost is closer to $467 per square foot. That's a 21-fold difference.

How did Beers' derive his NASA-size estimation? The cost of the LVCVA project is $890 million. The size of new exhibition space is about 90,000 square feet. So, divide 90,000 feet into $890 million, and you get about $10,000 per square foot.

But that's not the whole story, the LVCVA says. Constructing new space also entails untold numbers of other costs: additional public space, new restrooms, new food services, a lobby connecting the space to the rest of the convention center, meeting rooms over Desert Inn Road.

When all that additional construction is calculated, the LVCVA says, you get that other figure, the one that is $9,533 per square foot less.