Comment on Activist group says it will circulate voter initiative petitions in an effort to get Big Mining to pay more than one-half of 1% in taxes to the state. by Dave Morgan

Unfortunately, mining is a cyclical industry, so while there may be substantial revenue one year, mining taxes can be a dry hole the next. Same for big gaming. (What we need to do is create a gaming/mining savings account that fills during boom years to hedge against the down ones.) Regardless, many say both mining and gaming are terribly undertaxed in view of the wealth they remove from the state and the relative low wages they pay back. Sales taxes are also high, which places more of a day-to-day burden on low and middle class earners. You might even call a high sales tax like Nevada “a poor man’s income tax.” Low and middle class wage earners in Nevada pay a much higher percentage of their wages for taxes than Nevada’s wealthy. That’s called “tax regression” and among the states, Nevada is one of the most regressive in the country.
Now to your point about a personal income tax… Nevada residents’ absolute opposition to a state income tax is viewed by many as self-destructive. Given that low and middle class income earners are already paying a much higher percentage of their earnings on taxes, it leaves the wealthy in a very pampered position. If Nevada had a personal income tax, like Oregon, a major portion of Nevada’s operating revenues could come from those who would least feel the pinch. In Oregon, their personal income tax starts at an income level around $125,000 a year for an individual and $250,000 for a married couple. They also have a very modest corporate income tax. The revenue stream from these two sources provide Oregon a very stable revenue base that is, although not recession proof, very recession resistant. (nearly 90% of Oregon workers are still on the job, and an even higher percentage of higher income owners and managers are too.)
An upcoming ballot in Oregon asks whether residents want to uphold tax increases for education and highways. The tax sources are personal income tax (at the same income levels) and a slight uptick in corporate income tax. Even if the measures fail, there will be tolerable effects on the state’s colleges and universities (none will close, most will take new enrollments) and K-12 education, which would see modest class-size increases and only minor teacher layoffs. Not nearly as bad as we would see if Governor Gibbons gets his way on cuts here in Nevada.
So, the lesson is, if you have a STABLE tax system that does not soak the poor and middle class while letting the rich off nearly scott free, you avoid economic “roller coaster rides” that leave the state in shambles.
Nevada residents’ opposition to any form of a personal income tax plays right into the hands of Nevada’s small click of rich power brokers. They have the poor and middle class voters believing that it would be a stake through their hearts and wallets to enact a personal income tax, when in fact the current arrangement is exactly that, as state services and its future go down the drain. Are you noticing what Nevada’s big gaming operations are building on mainland China and in Singapore? While these gaming moguls whine that they are “stressed” and can’t pay any more taxes to Nevada, they’re spending billions upon billions of dollars for new resort hotel-casinos in Macau and Singapore. They are effectively interecepting the fast growing gaming appetite of China and other far eastern countries, even before these new and very wealthy gamers can even get to Nevada. And these “Nevada-based” gaming moguls are building it all with a good portion of money they ought to be paying Nevada in taxes to give its residents and their children an even shot at a brighter future through a more diversified economy.
What is too often missing in public discussions of Nevada tax policy is that specifically targeted higher taxes usually CREATE more jobs than just leaving that money in the hands of the rich. While some scream “it’ll cost jobs because the rich won’t hire more people,” it is one of those sayings that has been false for decades and remains false today. For instance, by better supporting our colleges and universities, and holding down tuition, more Nevada young people would have easier access to education and job training. That will, in turn, attract much higher paying non-gaming and non-mining industries to Nevada. “New century industries” want a highly educated and well trained workforce. But “new century industries” won’t come to Nevada until the quality of our labor pool improves and our universities and colleges evolve into “partners” with these new industries. A survey of companies leaving California revealed that Nevada wasn’t even in the top five of the states they re-located to.
Nevada’s commitment to a more highly skilled workforce comes FIRST. It’s called investing in our future. It’s nothing risky, wasteful or reckless. It’s called being smart. However, the economic titans of gaming, tourism and mining want to maintain their grip on Nevada because the status quo is working splendidly FOR THEM! They hate competition. And they’ll pay for enough political campaigns to ensure that their “good ole boy and good ole girl” Governors, Assembly persons and Senators continue to tell their voters that a personal income tax is “aids on a stick” and should be opposed at all cost. Not theirs. Ours!
If we are to rescue ourselves from this “house of mirrors” approach to taxation, we will need bold, new leadership in the Governor’s Office… someone who will put the people first rather than standing too long in front of a full-length mirror at the Mansion on Mountain Street, and in the restrooms at 5th and Carson.