The owners of eight of the Las Vegas Valley's most well-known strip clubs want a federal judge to repeal the state's live entertainment tax and refund the millions of dollars it already has cost the clubs.

On Tuesday, the owners of the topless and nude dancing clubs filed a federal court complaint that argues the tax is a violation of their First Amendment rights. The complaint also said implementation of the tax has been "arbitrary and capricious," with multiple exemptions for almost all types of business except those that provide adult entertainment.

"We have no problem if they tax everybody," said Pete Eliades, owner of the Olympic Garden and co-owner of the Sapphire club. "But they don't. ... We just want the public to know the truth."

Nevada's tax on live entertainment was passed in 2003 and modified in 2005. It requires the adult clubs to pay up to 10 percent of ticket sales or admissions as a tax. For Eliades, that adds up to about $150,000 a month for both clubs, he said.

The lawsuit revives the controversy that surrounded the birth of the tax, when the ACLU of Nevada repeatedly warned lawmakers that the language of the law was unconstitutional.

"From the ACLU's perspective, this isn't about any particular business or group of businesses," said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada civil liberties group. "This is about a principle, and that principle is free speech."

The clubs represented in the complaint are Deja Vu Showgirls, Little Darlings, Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen's Club, Olympic Garden, Sapphire, Crazy Horse Too Gentlemen's Club, Treasures and Scores. The complaint names the Nevada Department of Taxation, the Nevada Tax Commission and the Nevada State Board of Examiners as defendants.

Because the complaint was filed late in the afternoon, no one at the state Department of Taxation could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, who championed the live entertainment tax and unsuccessfully sought to apply it only to strip clubs in 2005, said she is confident the tax can withstand a legal challenge. Lawmakers were aware of the ACLU's concerns and sought assistance from the Legislative Counsel Bureau in crafting the entertainment tax.

"The rationale is that you can justify a tax when an industry creates a special burden," said Titus, who is a Democratic candidate for governor. "And the adult industry certainly does that."

Titus said strip clubs generally don't pay payroll taxes or contribute to workers compensation. Dancers work as independent contractors and don't receive health insurance, she said. And the existence of the nude and topless dance clubs creates an additional burden for agencies like social services and law enforcement.

It's an argument that strip club owners and the ACLU say is invalid.

"She's flat out wrong," said ACLU general counsel Allen Lichtenstein, who intends to file a court brief supporting the complaint against the live entertainment tax. "The only justification for special taxes is to pay for administrative costs. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that First Amendment businesses can't be singled out for special taxes."

That argument is also made by the plaintiffs' lawyers in court documents.

"The non-obscene performance dance entertainment presented on the establishments operated by the plaintiffs constitutes speech and expression, as well as a form of assembly, protected by not only the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, but (Articles 1, 9 and 10) of the Nevada Constitution as well," the lawyers noted.

Dolores Eliades, general manager of the Olympic Garden, said full-time employees at both of her father's clubs receive insurance and benefits. And dancers at both clubs have the status of tenants, since they rent space, she said. As for the burden topless dance clubs place on communities, Eliades said Titus is incorrect.

"If you look at how many times the police respond to our clubs, it's not that often," Eliades said. "And the state is making money on all the business licenses and the sheriff's cards that dancers have to have."