Five of Nevada’s largest casino operators and others are bankrolling a coalition supporting a recent .1 billion state commerce tax that doesn’t target the gaming industry.
The commerce tax package largely is attributed to Governor Brian Sandoval and spreads the tax burden among Nevada’s various industries, rather than shifting the majority of the burden to the state’s gaming industry.
Eyeing the state’s gaming industry as a cash cow, opponents want the tax package repealed and need to obtain 55,000 valid signatures on petitions to place the matter on the November ballot.
Proponents say the Commerce Tax broadens Nevada’s tax base and better protects the state against revenue shortfalls during times when the gaming industry is performing poorly, as was the case during the Great Recession.
Nevada’s overly narrow tax base relied too heavily on tax revenues from gaming, and the state experienced budgeting shortfalls as a result.
Nevada Resort Association President Virginia Valentine said her group, which represents the largest casinos in Nevada, supports the Commerce Tax, because it reduces volatility, while also promoting long-term growth as Nevada’s economy diversifies.
Providing financial support are MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, Station Casinos, Boyd Gaming, Affinity Gaming, and the South Point Casino, which contributed most of the $242,000 budget being used by the ad hoc Coalition for Nevada’s Future to support the commerce tax and defeat efforts to repeal it.
The coalition mostly is paying state law firms to combat local efforts to overturn the Commerce Tax and revert to a gaming-dependent tax base.
