Grim news on the gaming front

Visitor volume is way down, and Nevada casinos are hurting. A new report released Friday by the state Gaming Control Board highlights the depth of the pain.

In fiscal 2008, the report found, Nevada's major hotel-casinos saw their net earnings drop by almost 69 percent. Meanwhile, the combined expenses of casino, rooms, food and beverage departments increased by 16.2 percent last year, while total revenue decreased 1 percent.

The bulk of the decline hit the industry during the six months ending June 30.

"This reflects both the national and global economy," Control Board analyst Frank Streshley told The Associated Press.

No major resort area was immune.

The net win on the Strip was down 57 percent, while downtown Las Vegas casinos were off 52 percent.

Reno-Sparks resorts saw the net win decline by 50 percent, while Lake Tahoe's south shore got swamped to the tune of 173 percent.

This doesn't bode well for the near future, despite the opening of Steve Wynn's new Encore resort last month. The industry will most likely undergo additional contraction in 2009, with more layoffs and perhaps even closures and bankruptcies a real possibility.

Consider these realities in conjunction with the move to increase the room tax at major resorts in Las Vegas and Reno.

In a non-binding November referendum, the voters of Clark and Washoe counties signaled a willingness to back a 3 percentage-point hike in the room tax to provide additional education funding. Look for some lawmakers in Carson City to use that vote as justification for pushing the hike.

But in the current economic climate -- which continues to worsen -- does Nevada really want to sock it to tourists, the lifeblood of our struggling economy? Do we really want to pile more costs on casinos, some of which might be fortunate just to survive through the year?

A higher room tax rate would further injure the state. Raising it at this time would be nuts.