Pinball hall’s move will put it closer to where the tourists are

By Joe Schoenmann

Sunday, June 21, 2009 | 2 a.m.

One of Las Vegas’ best kept secrets is moving to a place where it might not be so secret anymore.

Luv-It Frozen Custard is moving to the Strip?

No. The Pinball Hall of Fame is moving west on Tropicana Avenue. Instead of being near Pecos Road, it will soon be closer to Maryland Parkway, UNLV and tourists from the Strip.

Owner Tim Arnold, who has spent a lifetime collecting pinball machines and owns about 1,200, is moving into a former tile warehouse across Tropicana from the Liberace Museum.

The Clark County Planning Commission approved a use permit for the relocated museum last week. After Arnold upgrades the 8,662-square-foot building at 1610. E. Tropicana to meet county code, he’s going to move in and nearly double the size of his museum. The Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club, of which Arnold is the president, purchased the building in November for $1.24 million.

He said the extra room at the new location will allow him to let the public enjoy more of his collection, more of his machines from the ’50s and ’60s. He hopes to open the new location within the next 30 to 90 days.

What’s this guy’s story?

Arnold, 53, bought his first machine for $200 in 1970 and made some money during the pinball heyday of the ’70s and ’80s. In 1991, he and his wife moved to the desert, where his machines could benefit from the dry climate. In 1993, Arnold started his twice-a-year pinball Fun Night, eventually drawing 1,000 people over two nights. In 2006, he opened the Pinball Hall of Fame.

He runs the 4,500-square-foot business with more than 200 machines as a nonprofit; excess quarters are donated to the Salvation Army. Part of a wall near a cracked-open “Dracula” machine is decorated with copies of checks for charities ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

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What’s the total dollar damage done to the county by the 2009 Legislature?

Staff tried to calculate it in a memo to county commissioners last week. In fiscal year 2009-10, which begins July 1, the county will have $108 million less because of the Legislature. In fiscal 2010-11, the damage will be $89 million. An excess government services tax will offset the losses by $16.6 million. In total, the county is set to lose $180 million.

Which bill caused the most damage?

Assembly Bill 543, which allowed the state to take more money from the two largest counties, Washoe and Clark. One part of the bill takes 4 cents per $100 of assessed value from the county’s tax rate. For Clark County, that will mean $60.8 million less over two years. It also takes all the county’s revenue from the 5-cent capital improvement tax that is shared with cities. Over two years, that’s another $53.2 million loss.

The next biggest hit will be a $38 million loss to the indigent accident fund, which is money directed to cover medical expenses for accidents involving those who can’t afford to pay. The county oversees and funds University Medical Center, which serves the largest percentage of indigent patients in the county.

The state also increased a fee to collect sales taxes, costing the county an additional $8.4 million over two years.

No wonder the county’s crying uncle. Is the raiding over at least?

In the memo, the county lists several bills whose budgetary effects are not yet known. One of those removes a requirement that a firefighter must work five years before cancer can be considered an occupational disease. It was lowered to two years. It also increases the types of cancers now to be associated with firefighting, adding skin, prostate, testicular and thyroid. Testing will cost taxpayers about $500,000 a year. The increased cost in workers’ compensation for more eligible firefighters with cancer is a major wild card.

How is the county going to withstand this?

It has instituted voluntary furlough programs and a voluntary layoff program, and is not filling hundreds of jobs. Still, County Manager Virginia Valentine last week asked all 38 county departments for 5 percent more cuts to offset an $11 million budget gap. And in her June 17 memo, she said more losses are likely to come in conjunction with the costs of creating new courts, marking underground utilities and other underfunded state mandates.