WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT TAX OPTIONS

The powerful business lobby has said it will support a tax increase, but only if it gets some version of its wish list of public employee-benefits reforms. Without that in place, Chamber Vice Chairman Hugh Anderson said, the group doesn’t want to talk too much about specifics on taxes. “We do not like to see any segment singled out,” he said. “Broad-based approaches are fair and should not create a drag on our ability to recover.” Increasing the rates of existing taxes might be more efficient than implementing new tax structures, Anderson said.

PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE OF NEVADA

The coalition of liberal groups released a report detailing tax increases it said would amount to more than $1.2 billion per year and would have the effect of making taxation more fair, rather than falling disproportionately on the poor. Testifying before the Legislature’s taxation committees earlier this month, PLAN officials said the immediate priorities should be increasing mining taxes, raising the Modified Business Tax on payrolls, and creating a graduated business profits tax.

NEVADA TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION

The venerable taxpayers’ voice hasn’t made any recommendations, but President Carole Vilardo expects that a combination of cuts and tax increases will come out of this legislative session. “Legislators are going to want revenue in the first quarter of the first year of the biennium, and in order to do that you’re going to have to work with your existing taxes,” she said. Vilardo warns that with consumers not spending money and businesses making little profit, tax collections face a “vicious cycle.” “History shows that when you raise taxes during an economic downturn, you usually do not get the revenue that was projected,” she said.

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM CHANCELLOR JIM ROGERS

The fiery, unpredictable chancellor doesn’t mind making enemies, notably the governor and sometimes members of the Board of Regents. But he also has spent more than a year making allies: getting legislators, businesses, interest groups and others to voice generic support for the state’s higher education system. Asked what that should translate to, Rogers said, “I have one opinion: Go get some taxes.” He doesn’t really care what they are, but has suggested a 4 percent corporate profits tax. “There isn’t a business in the state that can’t afford a 4 percent profits tax, and that would float this boat.”

NEVADA MINING ASSOCIATION

“It’s time to diversify our tax base, but we already pay a disproportionate share,” Nevada Mining Association President Tim Crowley said. “We’re willing to pay more as long as it’s equitable.” Mining already pays the same taxes as every other business — sales tax, property tax, payroll tax — plus a constitutionally mandated net proceeds on minerals tax. The industry says it shouldn’t be further singled out, even if gold prices are high. Critics say the state gets too little in exchange for the resources removed from its lands.

NEVADA GAMING ASSOCIATION

Just two years ago, the conditions facing the gaming industry today could scarcely have been imagined, association President Bill Bible told the tax committees. Like mining, gaming talks about being part of the solution as long as one industry is not singled out: “The gaming industry remains steadfast in support of a broad-based business tax with allowances for small businesses and sole proprietors,” Bible testified. Asked by the panel what form of business tax gaming prefers, Bible said he had no particular recommendation among a profits, receipts or sales tax.