By: Las Vegas Now Staff
Clark County voters are being asked to approve a measure that would increase hotel room taxes to help pay for education.
Proponents say the future of our childrens' education is at stake and opponents claims the tax could further hurt an already limping tourist economy.
Radio advertisements are already on the air promoting that the money is sorely needed to help education. “The support our schools proposal would add 3-percent to the cost of staying a hotel or other lodging in Nevada — the fee would be paid almost entirely by tourists,” the ad touts.
While the question is not binding on the legislature, the Nevada State Education Association hopes approval will prompt lawmakers to take action. The teachers union says increasing the hotel room tax could raise $125-million per year to replace money already cut from the state budget.
“We've seen our class sizes increase, we've seen resources diminish, we've got first grade classrooms being taught with paper that's just plain without lines,” said Lynn Warne, NSEA.
“There are many reasons to oppose Question 5,” said Alan Feldman, MGM Mirage. Opponents of the plan, including gaming giant MGM Mirage, say raising room taxes in the current economy would be another hit for tourism which is already seeing declining visitor volume and lower room rates.
“I also care about teacher salaries — and our company cares about teacher salaries — and we should be supporting our teachers. But the way to go about this isn't by isolating a tax on the tourism sector, it is by creating a broader base of taxes throughout the community,” Feldman said.
The plan calls for increasing the room tax up 3-percent to a maximum of 13-percent. Opponents say that's unfair to Southern Nevada where room tax rates ranging from 9-percent on the Strip to 11-percent in downtown Las Vegas are lower than in Washoe County and Reno. That means there's room for a bigger tax increase here with money being sent elsewhere in the state.
“And the money would be dispersed to the districts on student enrollment figures so Clark County would also realize the bulk of the money, said Warne.
The room tax increase advisory question came about as a compromise between the teachers union and several, but not all, large gaming companies.
Originally, the union planned to gather enough signatures to force an increase in the overall gaming tax. Question 5 has put big operators such as MGM Mirage and Boyd Gaming on one side of the table and Harrah's, Wynn and Station Casinos on the other side.
