CLARK COUNTY BALLOT QUESTION

State funding for schools could drop by an estimated $370 million during the next two years, and voters will be asked in November whether the hotel room tax should be increased to help offset the loss.

An advisory question, also known as a straw ballot, will gauge voter opinions about raising the existing room tax by as much as 3 percentage points on hotels.

Education advocates hope that enough people will mark "yes" to encourage the governor and state lawmakers to support a room tax increase, which would go into effect July 1.

Because of declining state revenue, the governor and legislators made $1.2 billion in cuts in the state's two-year budget that ends June 30.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has asked for a no-growth budget for 2009-11 and has vowed to veto any bills that raise taxes. He acknowledged that will mean a cut in services.

Still, three major casino companies teamed up with an education employees union to craft the tax proposal.

Nevada schools already rank at the top of bad lists and at the bottom of good lists without being slammed with such a severe reduction in funding, said Lynn Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association.

"Our kids can't wait. Our schools can't wait," Warne said. "We need to support them now."

The money would help offset cuts in the state general fund during 2009-11, Warne said. Then the dollars would be used to boost student achievement and educators' salaries in 2011-13.

Harrah's Entertainment, Wynn Las Vegas and Station Casinos back the proposed lodging-tax increase, which would be limited to Clark and Washoe counties.

If Nevada is to lure more employers who will create the kinds of jobs that will keep young people here, the schools must be funded properly and the work force educated, said Marybel Batjer, Harrah's vice president of public policy and communications.

"Everyone should be committed to improving education," Batjer said. "We want our children to stay in the state and be our next citizens."

Nevada has the highest dropout rate in the country and ranks near the bottom in money spent per student, Warne said, citing her group's research. The state also has the fourth-highest student-to-teacher ratio and the second-lowest percentage of high school students who go on to college, she said.

If the tax passes, hotel owners would pay a maximum of 3 percentage points. They might shell out less -- or none at all -- depending on the lodging taxes they already pay.

Total taxes levied on a hotel wouldn't exceed 13 percent of revenue.

So if a hotel pays 10 percent, it would be charged an additional 3 percentage points. If it pays 12 percent, it would see a 1 percentage-point increase.

The proposed increase is far more palatable to the casino industry than a tax on gaming receipts that education activists had pushed for earlier, Batjer said. The receipt tax would've required the state constitution to be amended and would've taken four to six years to yield revenue.

Bumping up lodging taxes will generate an estimated $300 million over two years, well shy of what's truly needed to fill the funding gap in education, Warne said.

"It's only a piece to a larger solution to what is needed in the funding crisis in K-12 education," Warne said.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.