Possible tax increase coming today!!! Update: Passes
The State Assembly today will vote on whether to approve the ballot initiative sponsored by the state teacher union that would increase the room tax in Clark and Washoe counties. The proposal would increase the tax on transient lodging in those counties by an additional 3 percent of gross receipts.
This tax increase has received implicit support from Gov. Jim Gibbons, who included it in his Executive Budget in spite of his "tax pledge." According to Gibbons' Executive Budget, he expects the new tax to amount to $292 million over the next two years. Industry leaders, however, have highlighted that the tax increase will only further dissuade tourism in a market that has been hard hit by recent economic conditions. They say revenue from the new tax will likely be between $120 million and $130 million over the biennium.
Update: Assembly passes the tax increase, 35-7. Little doubt about what the Governor will do.
