Vol. 3, No. 8, August 2007
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Wants and Needs
Why transportation may be Nevada’s most difficult issue to tackle
For the 51 million visitors to Nevada every year, our transportation bottlenecks are only a minor three- or four-day nuisance—but a nuisance nonetheless. But for Nevada’s residents, navigating our roads can be a daily headache. There is nothing more frustrating than leaving 10 minutes early for your destination and being 20 minutes late because of traffic. Little blame can be placed on local governments or the Nevada Department of Transportation: they’re barely able to keep up with traffic growth because their main revenue source is a fixed tax on gasoline and diesel fuel. Even though the price of these fuels and the cost of road construction increases, the amount of tax per gallon doesn’t.
We all want new and improved roads but it seems that no one wants to pay for them. A common line is that the resort industry is attracting all the tourists and new residents to Nevada and should, therefore, pay for Nevada’s roads.
But, wait a minute—not so fast! Convention authority research shows that only 6 percent of Las Vegas traffic is attributable to tourists who either drive here or rent cars at the airport. And while the resort industry’s 20 percent share of Las Vegas workers is certainly larger than any other industry, resort workers are no different than the 80 percent of non-resort workers who also live, work, drive and pay taxes on gas here.
As an advocate for the resort industry, I am the first to offer the tourism industry’s assistance. But, I also do not think that the industry and its employees should be asked to foot the state’s entire transportation bill. Relying on one industry to pay for everything is a very dangerous commitment to make.
Tourism already funds nearly 50 percent of the state’s budget (not including what its employees pay through their respective payroll taxes); asking the industry to single-handedly pay more into the system is both unfair and irresponsible.
The recent diversion of room tax revenue away from destination marketing is only a one-time, stopgap solution. These monies help make Las Vegas and Nevada one of the world’s top destinations and fill the hotel rooms that drive our economy. This provides meaningful jobs with good health benefits. Further diversion could leave hotel rooms empty and negatively impact these jobs.
As we move toward the 2009 legislative session, we all need to figure out if we want to seriously address our transportation issues and, if so, what is the most logical and responsible way to fund new road construction. Taking money out of the resort industry and resort employee pockets, or taking more money from the convention authority is no longer an option. We need to find a more equitable way to pay for the improved roads we all want.
