To the accompaniment of a brass band playing "Viva Las Vegas" and pom-pom-shaking cheerleaders, Gov. Brian Sandoval signed into law a 0.88% increase in the hotel-room tax for the purposes of building the new stadium, along with a smaller tax levy to enlarge the Las Vegas Convention Center. So your room tax will be effectively 1.5% higher in the name of civic advancement.
However, don't worry about higher hotel expenses just yet. A lot of moving parts are involved in the stadium-tax issue.
For one, the civic bonds that will back up the anticipated tax revenue ($750 million) have yet to be issued. Before that happens, "The owners of the NFL have to get together and they have to approve the Raiders moving to Las Vegas," says Anna Thornley of the Nevada Taxpayers Association. Not only is the stadium plan contingent on the tax revenue, but on a $200 million loan from the league, another $300 million from the Raiders organization, and $650 million from Sheldon Adelson, who claims he will cover any cost overruns associated with the project.
But if the NFL owners kibosh the relocation -- an issue complicated by the San Diego Chargers' desire to bolt to Los Angeles -- the loan and the Raider money go away, as does Adelson's capital commitment. In that event, the hotel tax will still go up once the bonds are issued.
"I don't think they know yet when that will be," says Thornley, referring to the many contingencies involved. "They said they hoped the stadium would be complete by 2020," but whether the bonds will be issued in time to meet that deadline remains to be seen.
However, the tax increase will still (eventually) go into effect with the purpose of building a new, albeit smaller, venue for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas' football team, currently exiled to Sam Boyd Stadium on the shores of the Las Vegas Wash. UNLV would have to pony up $200 million, while the room-tax contribution would fall to $300 million.
So the extra $450 million goes back to the taxpayers, right? Wrong.
The destination of the leftover money "has not been specified," Thornley tells us. It could be rechanneled into the extension of the Las Vegas Convention Center all the way to the Strip at the old Riviera site, but that's just a guess. Since the tax increase doesn't fall on Nevada citizens, it’s unlikely that there will be political pressure to repeal even part of it, not even should the Raiders relocate to the moon.
How likely is it that you'll see the (already trademarked) "Las Vegas Raiders"? Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones calls it "pretty definitive," but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell opposes the move and only has to get nine of 32 owners to agree with him.
Also, Jones is a renegade owner who once proposed the merchandising dollars -- split evenly among all teams -- be made proportionate to the teams whose merchandise generates them. No prizes for guessing who'd make out like a bandit on that deal. So we'll believe in the Raider move if and when the NFL approves it. But some kind of stadium, probably just south of Mandalay Bay, is definitely in the cards.
