Casino Connection Nevada

Casino tax initiatives rejected

by Staff

A judge in Nevada rejected two ballot initiatives that would increase the tax on the state’s largest casinos to 20 percent and generate $2 billion a year to pay teachers and fund highway construction and other projects.

The initiatives, filed by Las Vegas lawyer Kermitt Waters, don’t comply with a state law requiring that initiatives be limited to one subject.

Carson City District Judge Bill Maddox ruled that the initiatives amount to an improper delegation of lawmakers’ authority to tax and spend.

Bill Bible, head of the Nevada Resort Association, agreed with the ruling.

“Had this initiative gone forward and become law it would have had disastrous consequences for Nevada’s main industry and economic driver,” he said.

The initiatives introduced by Waters were considered long shots, anyway. The bigger concern for the state’s gaming industry is a proposal from the Nevada State Education Association would raise taxes from 6.75 percent to 9.75 percent.

The additional revenue generated by the increase, estimated to be around $250 million, would be used to fund the cash-strapped public education system in Nevada.

The NRA fought that initiative, too, but it survived a court challenge.

The NSEA proposal needs to win voter approval in 2008 and 2010.