Editorial: A question of responsibility

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

Nevada has reached a tipping point, where the increasing demand for services by our booming population far outstrips the state's ability to meet the need.

There simply are not enough taxes collected to pay for the necessities. The state's schools are underachieving and overcrowded. The highways in Southern Nevada are congested. And the need for social services is overwhelming.

One response to the inequity is the state teachers union's proposal to raise the casino tax to increase funding for Nevada's schools. The problem with the initiative is that it singles out one industry. The plan, however, will likely gain support because no one wants to pay more taxes. There are not enough people willing to take responsibility for improving Nevada, much less pay even a pittance of a tax. Those who dismiss the state's needs shamelessly and deceptively say the government is awash in money and stilted by a bloated bureaucracy.

In light of the teachers' initiative proposal, a meeting of some industry and education leaders was convened last week by the Las Vegas Sun to discuss taxes. A summary of that discussion was published Sunday.

During the discussion, university system Chancellor Jim Rogers, who is also a successful businessman, said gaming cannot be left to bear the burden of paying taxes. "Other businesses have a moral obligation" to pay taxes, he said.

Rogers noted that out-of-state companies hardly put anything back into Nevada in the form of reasonable taxes. Those companies, from banks to retail chains to grocery stores, complain that taxes would drive their prices up, yet food and services here are the same price, if not higher, than elsewhere, including California. The companies send their record profits to a main office in another state, which taxes the companies, helping pay for education and highways there. Nevada gets no benefit.

"Nevada is providing for education in another state," Rogers said. "That makes no sense to me."

Nevadans should be discussing how all businesses and people can responsibly share the burden of paying for services that provide a high quality of life, instead of shirking off the responsibility on one industry.