Four named finalists for study on Nevada tax structure

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 | 4:15 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Moody’s Analytics, a nationally recognized financial company, is the top choice of a group of Nevada legislators for a study on the possible changing of the Nevada tax structure.

The eight-member legislative working group unanimously selected Moody’s Analytics of West Chester, Pa., for a bid of $253,000. There were eight bids to choose from and four were selected as finalists.

The group chose Willdan Financial Services of Sacramento, Calif., in second place with a bid of $153,205 and tied for third were Nevada Consultants Inc. of Las Vegas at $500,000 and the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada Reno at $909,861.

Those four that were recommended will be interviewed by the Legislative Interim Finance Subcommittee later this month.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said Moody’s Analytics holds “national credibility.” Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, also said Moody’s has the highest level of credibility.

The 2009 Legislature approved a resolution calling for a study of the tax system and quality of life services in Nevada.

Raggio said it was time to do a tax study in view of the downturn of state finances this year. And he said some people are already criticizing a study of the state’s taxes. He added he was not advocating an increase in taxes.

Raggio says he was not getting into a fight with Gov. Jim Gibbons, who opposed awarding a contract to a firm to do a tax study. Gibbons said, “We don’t have a tax problem. We have a spending problem.”

The governor suggested the study would come up with a recommendation to impose a broad-based tax, which he opposed.

Raggio added that Nevada has one of the 10 lowest per-capita tax systems in the nation. It also has a low level of tax on businesses and the number of government workers in Nevada is the lowest per-capita in the nation. “We are not overstaffed,” he said.

Others that submitted bids to do the study were Professor Bill Robinson of UNLV for $32,200; Economic & Planning Systems, Inc., of Berkeley, Calif. at $295,350; John P. Johns, a CPA of Davis, Calif. at $444,000 and the Center For Tax and Budget Accountability of Chicago at $544,082.

The state Board of Examiners, on a 2-1 vote, with Gibbons dissenting this week, voted to approve $500,000 for the study.

The University of Nevada, Reno submitted the highest bid. But Horsford and Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, said it contained the best vision and would help in developing a strategic plan.

Raggio, however, called the $909,861 bid “prohibitive.”

The winning firm will work with legislators to determine the adequacy of tax revenue; the split between the state and local governments and what taxes might be imposed in 2011 by the Legislature.

The company will also work with a group to determine Nevada’s national rankings in quality-of life areas such as education, health and human services, public safety and economic diversification.

The report from the consultant will be due next July 1 to the Legislative Interim Finance Committee which in turn will submit its recommendations to the governor by Oct. 1, 2010 for presentation to the 2011 Legislature.