CORRECTION: Because of an editing error, this headline was incorrect. A decision to spend some of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's budget on infrastructure needs must be approved by the Legislature, not the LVCVA. In fact, the authority is supporting a proposal to use some hotel room tax money for local infrastructure needs.

Tourism agency won't share revenues

      The board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority unanimously approved a new $129.3 million annual budget on Thursday despite one member's suggestion that some of that money could be better spent to solve in frastructure problems.
      "For every hotel room that is built there are approximately seven jobs created and, say, five new families come to town and they have an impact on our roads, on our schools, on our police protecti on and on our parks," said Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid, a member of the tourism-promoting agency's board.
      "It seems logical to me that some of the increase in funding go to pay for some of the problems we're having with infrastructure," she said.
      But other board members and representatives of the tourism and gaming industries countered that a strong tourism economy generates tax revenue for the county and state, making it v ital that the authority not slacken its efforts to promote tourism.
      With more than 10,000 new hotel rooms built in Las Vegas in the past year, the authority expects to see its revenue grow by 7 percent in the fiscal yea r that begins in July. It receives most of its money from an 8 percent hotel room tax paid by most Las Vegas resorts. It also receives gaming tax revenue and fees from users of the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cashman Field.
     ;  Operating expenses would grow a relatively scant 1 percent over what the authority expects to have spent in its current fiscal year.
      The new budget's most expensive highlight is a $1.5 million addition to what the authority spends on its "Las Vegas -- Open 24 Hours" advertising campaign. The additional money would pay for more television commercials, more ads for Laughlin and other outlying areas of Clark County and to cover the rising costs of media time and s pace.
      The authority expects to have a balance of $13 million in its coffers at year-end.
      Spending that money on anything other than tourism promotion or public recreation would requir e a change in state law. That, Kincaid said, was part of the reason she voted for the budget, despite her criticisms. She also cited the June 1 deadline the authority faces to have a new budget in place.
      The Nevada Resort Association has proposed that about 9 percent of the authority's budget be diverted for construction of new schools. It has also proposed that the room tax be raised by a percentage point to pay for i nfrastructure needs.
      But beyond that, the gaming industry would oppose diverting money now received by the authority, he said.
      A soon-to-be-released study by the industry will show th at the gaming industry already generates about 50 percent of the tax revenue in the state budget, Bunker said.
      "We believe that the gaming industry more than pays its way here in Southern Nevada," he added.
 &# 160;    The authority already pays for improved infrastructure by helping to keep the economy on the Strip strong, generating tax revenue for the county, said Clark County Commissioner Lorraine Hunt, chairwoman of the authority's board.       "That very most expensive real estate in the world is giving tremendous amounts of revenue into the general fund," Hunt said. "Certainly, to spend revenue earmarked for travel and tourism (on other things) would be a terr ible policy for us to embark on."
      With little support from other board members, Kincaid also criticized the authority's arrangement with Las Vegas Events Inc., the nonprofit corporation that produces the National Finals Rodeo and other tourism and publicity generating events in Las Vegas.
      Las Vegas Events received a $3 million grant from the authority for the next fiscal year.
      Kincaid complained tha t as a private company, Las Vegas Events is not subject to open meeting laws and therefore can spend money on events without receiving authority input.
      But Las Vegas Events representatives come to every Convention and V isitors Authority board meeting to answer questions, other board members noted. They also give monthly and annual financial statements to the authority and submit to an audit.

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