Editorial: Closed-door denizens

Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.

The Nevada Tax Commission continues to try to protect its practice of giving out tax refunds behind closed doors.

Sadly, the commission shows no real understanding of the need to do the public's business in public. The commission, which is charged with hearing taxpayer appeals and has the power to give refunds, continues to try to argue that the public has little business knowing how and why it does what it does.

On Tuesday the state Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the commission violated the law in 2003 when it met behind closed doors to deliberate on and vote for a $40million rebate to Southern California Edison. The commission continues to contend that it must do its work behind closed doors.

We had hoped that a bill passed by the Legislature this year to create more transparency in the commission's work would guide the commission in future meetings. However, it appears the commission is clinging to its old ways. Its private attorney, Thomas "Spike" Wilson, had the audacity to say the bill supported the commission's argument.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Legislature wanted to limit private meetings, while recognizing the need to protect taxpayer s' proprietary and financial information.

The commission is writing rules to address the new law and is trying to create great loopholes that would allow it to operate as usual, arguing it can do little in public without violating privacy rights. That is nonsense. City councils and county commissions deal with proprietary information regularly and still manage to deliberate and vote in public.

The commission's decisions affect millions of taxpayer dollars, and the public should have the right to know how it makes those decisions. Working behind closed doors - especially with the current sensitivity to corruption - does no one any good.