When it comes to funding public education in Nevada, some local teacher’s unions are looking to casinos for relief. The Clark County Education Association (CCEA) is advocating for a significant increase in both casino taxes and sales taxes in an effort to pump more cash into the Clark County’s revenue-famished public schools.
According to a report on Focus Gaming News, the CCEA is asking state lawmakers to raise the state gaming from 6.75 of gross gaming revenue to 9.75 percent. It’s an extreme move that reflects both the desperate situation facing public education, as well as the CCEA’s fundamental disconnect with the situation being faced by Nevada’s casinos. (Though the teachers say the tax would only be collected from casinos that made more than $250,000 a month.)
In a statement to the press, CCEA executive director, John Vellardita defended the push for more taxes saying, “You need to put the resources in the system and the price tag on the resources from three different studies in a billion dollars more each year.
“It’s up to the governor and lawmakers in the 2021 session to address the economy, to address finding more revenue, not cuts from our perspective.”
Representatives of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce were less enthusiastic with President and CEO Mary, Beth Sewald, pointing out, “Increasing Nevada’s sales tax during COVID-19 would absolutely hurt families and cost jobs.
“It would put our state in a position that is not competitive when it comes to people wanting to buy goods in Nevada.”