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Time for a cure
Lawmakers should forge plan to broaden state tax base before it’s too late
Monday, Aug. 3, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.
The biggest problem with Nevada’s government is that it relies on an antiquated revenue system that isn’t broad enough to collect taxes from everyone who should be paying them and isn’t sufficient enough to satisfy demand for essential services.
The biggest problem with Gov. Jim Gibbons and state legislators is that they haven’t had the fortitude to do what’s right for Nevada, which is to find a long-term solution to the state’s revenue woes. Instead, they have taken the cowardly Band-Aid approach by making short-term fixes to the state budget.
Enough already.
Lawmakers should make constructive use of the time they have before the next regular legislative session in 2011 to forge a workable revenue plan that has backing from an array of public and private sector stakeholders. That means scrapping the decades-old tax system that relies heavily on tourists and replacing it with a revenue stream that more accurately reflects the Nevada of the 21st century.
There’s a glimmer of hope that this will happen.
As reported last week by David McGrath Schwartz in the Las Vegas Sun, state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, and other lawmakers intend to form a subcommittee today to assess the state’s tax structure. The subcommittee will also examine how Nevada can improve on its poor national rankings in numerous quality-of-life categories.
Those rankings — involving education, health care and other areas vitally important to Nevadans — go hand in hand with an insufficient revenue base that makes it virtually impossible for Nevada to provide adequate levels of service.
We have had enough tax studies calling for a broader-based tax structure, so there is no need for lawmakers to waste any more time identifying the problem.
What Nevada needs instead is for lawmakers to discard the Band-Aids and replace them with a cure. The need is urgent because the temporary tax increases and one-time federal economic stimulus money that bailed us out this session did nothing to address the budgetary problems we’ll face in 2011 and beyond.
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Do you ever get that feeling of deja vu? You've been here before just can't place your finger on when?
Did you ever ask yourself,
"Why, when this is so obvious, do Nevadans refuse to do it?"
There has to be some rationale for refusing.
What is it?
The consequences are here, now.
Ok here's why Nevada dos not have a broader tax base 1. Nevada dos not have home rule Carson City calls all the shots. 2. Nevada used to be a very small state there was know need for it. 3. Most people that moved here over the last 20 years did so because Nevada is a low tax state to begin with. 4. The casino companys won't support it the average person won't support it neather, That's why we don't have a state income tax it's on the state constitution. 5. Also most people in this state do not want a full time state legislate. 6. Most people know that a heavy tax burden gets in the way of growth not to mention all the extra regulation that go's along with it. 7. All people in Nevada do not want what happen in California to happen here. 8. You also still have a very large independent pioneer spirit here and most of that comes from the Nevadans that don't live in Clark County those people could care less about the 21st century thay hate Las Vegas to begin with. 9. It's still in many ways a JOHN WAYNE STATE if you know what i mean. 10. Alot of people like to come and go as they please it's a very undisciplined population these are people that had problems in there life before they moved here you really can't count on people like that there not all that stable in life this is not mayberry. GET IT.
Does "broad based tax base" translate into state income taxes?
the good part of that lies in the fact that the state constitution requires a vote by all of Nevadas voters to enact this wish list for the special interests in the state.
The bad part is that these special interests ain't gonna quit until they get it passed.
the good part of getting it passed is that it is gonna take a loooong time to figure out how to scam the gullable into thinking it [the tax] is in their best interest.
No matter how you increase revenue, it will never be enough. California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, to name a few, all have corporate and personal income taxes. Yet, they are all running deficits. Politicians know only how to spend every penny on the books not how to cut expenses. Before unions infiltrated the government; before states morphed into "nanny" states; before government tentacles latched onto our freedoms, our country flourished. Churches and independent organizations provided for people and families who fell on hard times until they were able to right themselves. Now, no one is embarrassed to be living off taxpayers and pass this wonderful legacy off from generation to generation. Our new administration has pushed the envelope even further. We are paying tax dollars so people can trade in their "clunkers" for a newer more eco-friendly model. Plus, if Obama has his way we will also be paying for their health insurance. You cannot govern Montana the way you govern California. This is where the federal government fails. Laws are passed for the most populated areas and have adverse effects on the others. I am sure physicians and hospitals in Los Angeles charge more for services than those in Minot, ND.
It is very clear that by advocating a "broad tax base", the Sun is actually advocating a state income tax. Unfortunately, no one in the Sun editorial department actually has the guts to call it what it is.
Unfortunately none of this is true. The state's ability to collect taxes is just fine. According to the Tax Foundation, a study used by Barbara Buckley to justify more taxes on residents, Nevada ranked 26th in the nation, for tax collection per capita.
The problem is that government uses resources inefficiently and overtime they require more and more money to the same job (in the worst case they are doing even less despite having more tax revenue).
What Nevada needs is efficient government that relies on the innovation and intelligence of its workers rather than the backs of taxpayers.
As far as quality of life is concerned, the US government ranks Nevada as one of the wealthiest states with one of the lowest poverty rates. Most everything else is subjective opinion on what constitutes a good life -- so unless the Sun advocates outlawing smoking (even in private homes) and drinking (everywhere) Nevada is going to "suffer" in certain areas of "quality of life"
"That means scrapping the decades-old tax system that relies heavily on tourists and replacing it with a revenue stream that more accurately reflects the Nevada of the 21st century."
This means a local income tax. This is why the Las Vegas Sun, Buckley and others use the Tax Foundation study which shows residential tax collection as a percentage of per capita income as evidence. The only thing that statistic shows is that residents pay little in taxes as a percentage of their income - that is a good thing.
The statistic they regularly avoid is the one that says Nevada's tax collection per capita (all revenue per person) ranks 26th in the nation.
The policymakers, pundits, and newsmakers who are advocating a "broad tax base" are only doing so because they simply want to take more of your hard earned money -- they just don't want to come out and say it.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr163...
How come the first idea is broad tax base instead of broad cost control.
Step one eliminate one level of government. Why do we need State, County and City? Eliminate City since most services are coming from the County then reduce the State since I am still trying to find any state services besides the DMV. Next tie all public employees labor increase to the percentage change of gaming taxes. Since the casino's are the largest tax provider, if the gaming tax goes down then their wages go down. Reward employees for cost savings instead of promoting the idea to spend the whole budget.
We can lead and showcase what a 21st century govenment should be instead of feeding money into a 19th century model based on poor communications and no automation.
We need cost controls & innovative management, not more taxes & bureucratic committees.
"Adequate levels of service" is in the eye of the beholder, or perhaps more accurately, in the eyes of special interest advocates, and before the politicians in CC or DC start coming to the taxpayers demanding more money to provide "adequate levels of service" they need to be held to account on what they've done and they're already doing. Lack of public interest, be it in a run up to war, the mortgage crisis, TARP, or Obamacare, has let the hacks in CC & DC get away with unprecedented levels of buffoonery -- while a handful of the well-connected continue to get rich at the public trough. And enough is enough. Insist an transparency, details, and accountability at all levels of government -- and don't let Horsford/Gibbons/Reid/Ensign continue to dodge reality. After all, you're the one that'll be paying...and paying...and paying!
If we were serious about attracting real jobs, we might actually increase our tax base. To many Mc'jobs in this state and therefore a smaller tax base.