No need any more for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
The Review-Journal’s reporters are doing a great job reporting on the abuses occurring at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, but the real story why this institution is allowed to exist in the first place.
The convention authority was established when most of the casinos were owned by individuals. It made sense to form an entity that would be cost effective and benefit all parties. At present, 90 percent of the casinos on the Strip are owned by five corporations.
At present, half of the hotel taxes are dispersed to the Clark County School District, the University Medical Center and Metro police. The other half goes to the convention authority. If, as the authority states, for every dollar spent it is returned 12 times, then let the five companies absorb the organization and its costs.
If our representatives in Carson City raised the tax on casino revenues to 10 percent (still among the lowest in the world) and had 100 percent of hotel taxes go to to the school district, UMC and the police, we would not have to face proposed tax increases year after year.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is just a place for the local politico to sit on the board and receive bloated salaries and perks. Let the five companies benefiting the most pick up those ridiculous costs.
