Yes and no. There wouldn't be a "new" tax to pay for the stadium. However, the proposal on the table is to escalate the existing room tax from 12 percent to at least 13 percent. From this extra percentage point, backers of the proposal hope to derive $750 million that would serve as the plurality of funding for the stadium (as yet unapproved), which is estimated to cost $1.9 billion. If construction costs overshoot that mark, Sheldon Adelson has pledged to cover the overrun. The hotel tax could even rise to 13.5 percent, if a proposal to expand the Las Vegas Convention Center is approved, funded by a half-percent increase in the room levy that has already been recommended by the infrastructure committee. (If that sounds like a lot, San Diego residents are being asked to raise the city's room tax by four percentage points – to 16.5 percent – to build the San Diego Chargers a new home.)
Right now, the issue both of a tax and of a new stadium is in the hands of the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee. Adelson's people are pressing it to make a swift decision so that they can go the National Football League before year's end with a stadium package that will uproot the Raiders from Oakland and re-plant them in Las Vegas. The Committee, which next meets on Sept. 15, must weigh the stadium proposal against a $1.4 billion request for funds from the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, which wants to expand the Convention Center all the way to the Strip, where it would occupy the former site of the Riviera.
If the Committee approves the room-tax increase, the ball then goes into the court of Gov. Brian Sandoval. He would have to call the Legislature into special session to approve the increased levy, preferably – for Adelson – in September. (The Lege, which meets in odd-numbered years, isn't presently scheduled to convene until early next 2017, too late for the Adelson-imposed deadline.) What's more, the Legislature has to pass any tax increase by a two-thirds majority. Failing that, it could hold a "permissive vote" – i.e., one that authorizes Clark County and Las Vegas to hold their own election on the stadium tax.
There are a number of moving parts to the stadium proposal. The Adelson family would kick in $650 million, the Las Vegas Sands board having refused to commit any dollars to the plan. (Adelson himself is worth $29.5 billion.) "I discussed it with my wife and my kids, my family, and we agreed that we would do it as a benefit to the community," the mogul told his Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. Another $500 million would come from the Raiders, partly in the form of equity and seat sales, and partly in money borrowed from the NFL. Just to be safe, the team has already trademarked "Las Vegas Raiders."
Throw in taxpayer money and you get to the magic number of $1.9 billion. A compromise proposal to shave the taxpayer commitment to $550 million was shot down by Adelson. "If we can't get $750 [million], we respectfully thank you and move on," said Sands President Rob Goldstein. In typical jellyfish fashion, Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak recommended that the Committee punt the $55o million/$750 million question to lawmakers in Carson City.
Tomorrow: What will the economic impact of the stadium be and where will it be located?
