Initiative aims to lift Nevada mining tax cap

CARSON CITY -- A conservative business­man filed a proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday to raise the cap on Nevada mining taxes to 9 percent of net proceeds, up from 5 percent, in the first of two or three expected tax proposals that could end up on the November ballot.

The initiative filed by Monte Miller said the measure itself doesn't require the mining tax to be raised but would allow the Legislature to increase the rate that has limited taxes paid on minerals since Nevada's statehood.

Miller is on the board of the Keystone Corp., a conservative, pro-business group that opposes business taxes and does not support Miller's effort.

"This is Monte Miller," he said.

Miller also is on the board of directors of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, which had no immediate position on the initiative.

Taxes paid by mining companies on minerals are limited by the Nevada Constitution to 5 percent of net proceeds, and amounts are calculated after deductions for the cost of extraction and other business expenses.

"This is about fairness," Miller said by telephone. "I think the 5 percent is a 20th century cap. This is about mining being at the table."

Tim Crowley, president of the Nevada Mining Association, said the industry has stepped up to the plate in years past.

He said mining supported the modified business tax approved in 2002 that all businesses, including mining, pays and supported higher sales and payroll taxes approved in 2009.

Last session, the industry agreed to eliminate some deductions from the net proceeds tax, amounting to $24 million a year. "Perhaps he forgets these things because he was not present and did not participate in those discussions and resolutions," Crowley said.

Miller's initiative would need more than 72,000 signatures to be placed on the ballot. Voters would have to approve it in November and again in 2014 for it to take effect.

The move comes as a union-backed effort is under way for an initiative to create a business tax in Nevada. That measure, being organized by a coalition led by Nevada AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Danny Thompson, has not yet been filed with the secretary of state but is being modeled after a proposed margins tax on businesses pushed by Democrats in the 2011 session that failed to gather any Republican support needed for passage .

Miller said he plans another initiative to raise casino taxes. "That's coming," he said.