Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Everything should be on the table to address Nevada’s state-sponsored child abuse. That’s not hyperbole — the largest class sizes in the nation and lack of social workers and counselors, compounded with teacher shortages, put children and educators at risk. Some possibilities:
• While the mining tax rate is in the Nevada Constitution, the deductions aren’t. They are in state statutes. Legislators can change them.
• The most similar state in population to Nevada generates $80-plus million per year from their lottery. Lottery tickets could be sold in sports books to appease casinos; if they’d rather pay a tax to cover that revenue, they could be offered that option.
To reduce class sizes, Nevada also could consider:
• a small increase in the property tax cap.
• a 1% tax on income above earned above $50,000. This would be less tax that a 1.5% increase in your sales taxes for most people.
• raise the casino tax by 2-3%.
• increase the sales tax by 0.5%.
It would be nice for our politicians and business leaders to propose some solutions to some of the worst per-pupil funding in the nation.
