cas127 wrote on May 10, 2008 02:16 PM: Casinos and public sector unions getting in bed together?

Here come the state income tax proposals!

seslew wrote on May 08, 2008 10:20 PM: How about this for an idea to get casino owners to pay more taxes while at the same time showing how much Nevadan's support and appreciate everything they have done to drive our economy.

Every dollar of profit that is reinvested or held in Nevada will be taxed at the incredibly low rate of 6.75% showing our appreciation for all they do BUT every dollar of profit invested outside Nevada will be taxed 39%. Sometimes those out of state investments would be lucrative enough
that it would make sense to pay the tax. Our state would grow and collect more taxes.

I like and respect Steve Wynn but last time I checked he just had one vote like everybody else. And next time the teachers union askes me to sign a petition for anything if it doesn't list the real goal of the petition and where all the sell out points are I am telling them ask S. Wynn to sign it 160,000 times. I didn't support some other initiatives because I thought this one was best. Is it really OK in their mind to bargain away the position of every last person who signed the petition without any consultation or consensus from the people backing it? Who honsetly thinks that if the union makes a deal with Wynn that the best interests of ALL Nevadan's will be represented? One thing is for sure, the interest's of Wynn and and the Officers of the Teachers Union will be of the greatest importance in any agreement. I wonder what their priorities are.

joe wrote on May 08, 2008 09:02 PM: ths,

You may work as a conventioneer, but you have no idea about the financial inner workings of a major casino. True, many of the rooms are filled with folks visiting for the conventions, but the majority of these rooms are paid for by the companies they represent. And you are wrong about the convention folks spending way more than the average visitor. Convention people rarely spend much money outside the convention when visiting Vegas. Usually the full-day busy schedule of the conventions take alot of their time to where they're only time to spend money is usually on food (mostly buffets). Talk to any casino floor personnel (dealers, servers, cashiers, hosts, pit bosses, porters, front desk, ect.) and they'll tell you how they dread the large conventions because they know they'll usually get stiffed on tips or have patrons who play only $20 on a table then leave. The main industry that seems to have an increase during large conventions are the gentlemen's clubs.

NY and NJ have much more diverse economys than Las Vegas does, this explains their better schools and infrastructures. Casino revenues there make up only a small portion of the economy unlike here. When you're the overwhelmingly dominant industry in an area you are naturally going to be asked to give more to support the economy you create. Also, NY and NJ have not experienced the massive high speed growth Vegas has. They have much more mature economies, which gain revenue from multiple sectors.

Yes, ths, I have lived in NJ and worked in the casino industry there. I helped a smaller casino emerge from bankruptcy. Vegas and NJ economies are as similar as apples and oranges.

Oh yea, your tax dollars do not pay for another person's unemployment, people pay for their own unemployment. You're thinking of welfare.

another teacher wrote on May 08, 2008 08:12 PM: So Jon, is it such a bad thing if a chunk of that money DOES go to the teachers? It is unbelievable to me how many people out there think it is acceptable for our teachers to make a salary that puts them at the poverty level. As a teacher, I am a qualified professional with a degree, and make less than many who don't. I love my job, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing, but is it so horrible to try to get our salary equivalent to the cost of living these days?? On top of that, do you know how much money teachers spend each year on their classrooms and students? Let me see you put that much money BACK into your job after making such little money. If we continue to pay our teachers so poorly we are going to lose all of those great veterans that are experts at their craft. Who will replace them? Think about it...highly qualilfied people are eventually going to stop settling for such small means.

PublicTeacher wrote on May 08, 2008 07:55 PM: Ok, so let me see if I understand this correctly. We wanted to convince tons of people to sign a petition that would specify concrete tax revenues for education, and now we want to go back on that and risk uncertainty again in the funding mechanism? I spent a lot of time talking this petition up, and listing all the reasons it was necessary and good. Now I look like a fool. What is wrong with this picture? Either our funding source needs fixing or it doesn't. We can't have it both ways!

DennisD wrote on May 08, 2008 07:07 PM: By all means leave those gaming receipts alone - gotta build more casinos in Macau and any place else on the globe they can. Keep on outsourcing the country.

Buckley's comment says it all. Leave these issues to the bought and paid for legislature, the common people, who the hell are they to make decisions.

Steve wrote on May 08, 2008 06:58 PM: Now that is the Las Vegas I have come to know and love. The gaming companies talked their way out of paying anything and put the WHOLE burden on the taxpayer by raising the room taxes. Am I the only one who thinks this is the typical sleezy day to day business practices continued by our gaming industry? And the state education department thinks this is acceptable?

Anthony wrote on May 08, 2008 05:56 PM: Didn't CES just threaten to leave Las Vegas in 2011 when their contract is up because they feel they're being gouged by the Casinos?

ths wrote on May 08, 2008 04:41 PM: Joe, then you know that a good majority of rooms are filled with convention visitors who spends tons more then the average middle class visitor.

This is the industry I work in and between unions, hotel rates and other costs we are chasing the conventions out of town or start considering other venues.

Joe, you ever live in NJ where they have one of the best education systems in the country, or NY?

There is gaming in both states(one indian reservation that pays the state) with higher gaming tax, sales tax equal to ours or greater, 2.5% property tax and income tax. They have great roads, top education and good public health and safety services. Also a desirable place to live for these reasons.

Perhaps we are blind thinking we can live at the low tax structure and keep pushing it onto one industry. Sounds like Joe has an issue with the industry he has worked in but every publicly traded company across the country works the same way.

Daniel wrote on May 08, 2008 03:54 PM: Yep, Joe hit it right on the head. All corporations project a percentage of pay back to the stock holder. This must be met or the stocks go down but not the patrons. This hole fiascal will come to end, and judgement day will handle all this for all the GREEDY.

Read All Comments