Posted on: Saturday, February 2,2002
Struggling casinos want property taxes slashed
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Thirty-three Las Vegas area casinos are seeking huge cuts in their property taxes, asking officials to slash the taxable value of their properties by more than $2 billion.
Government officials fear that if the county's Board of Equalization — an independent panel appointed by the Clark County Commission that will decide the issue later this month — agrees with the casinos, their property tax-dependent budgets could be crippled.
In terms of tax revenue for county governments, a $2 billion cut in the casinos' taxable value would mean an estimated $20 million decrease in property tax revenue, the county assessor's office told the Las Vegas Sun for yesterday's editions.
Clark County and the city of Las Vegas already are experiencing a revenue loss since Sept. 11, with sales tax and room taxes on the decline.
George Stevens, the county's finance director, said the county has lost from $5 million to $6 million in sales and room tax since September.
Governments typically use property taxes, which make up 35 percent of the county's budget and 18 percent of the city's budget, to fund services such as police and fire departments.
Based on initial estimates, the city of Las Vegas could see a $3 million loss in property taxes from the 10 downtown casinos that are asking for at least $300 million reductions in taxable value. Clark County could see a $10 million loss in property tax revenue if $1 billion in cuts are granted to casinos in its jurisdiction.
"It's significant, because $3 million is roughly equivalent to 60 employees," said Steven Houchens, deputy city manager for the city of Las Vegas. "And we're not looking at a lot of growth anyway, so any diminishment of revenues at this point could affect services."
The casinos are appealing their tax bills for the 2002-03 fiscal year, which they are due to start paying in August.
On Feb. 25, the county Board of Equalization will hear the appeals of 33 casinos in Las Vegas and Clark County, which are appealing county assessments.
