Wednesday, Aug. 19, 1998 | 1:17 a.m.
If casino owner Steve Wynn wants to take advantage of a tax break for fine art at his soon-to-open Bellagio hotel-casino, the gallery will have to be open free to the public at least 20 hours a week.
The Nevada Tax Commission, which met this morning at a McCarran International Airport meeting room, decided unanimously to insure that the public, especially children, would have free access to the display of more than $285.5 million worth of art, which Wynn has collected over the past year and a half.
The Bellagio is set to open Oct. 15.
Senior Deputy Attorney General John Bartlett said after the meeting that to meet the requirements of the tax exemption approved by the 1997 Legislature, the Bellagio's gallery would have to open free to the public for 20 hours a week, 35 weeks out of the year. For example, the commission said, the gallery could be open four hours a day, five days a week.
The seven-member commission also cleaned up the wording of the law to prohibit loopholes such as the art being placed in casino areas, private residences, or areas not generally accessible to children. Also, the art cannot be placed in an area that is not accessible to the disabled. The commission was set to resume its meeting at 4 p.m. today, to discuss other issues relating to tax exemptions for art, such as what constitutes "art" and what constitutes "public access."
Commissioner Robert Robinson said the commission is addressing a lot of problems that won't likely come up.
"The Bellagio has said it will create a separate gallery -- they are not about to put it in a restroom," Robinson said. "They will put it in an area where security will be watching it. They will take care of it well, because it is quite an investment."
Earlier this year, a deadlock had developed between Bellagio officials and state Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, on the regulations for the tax exemptions. Neal, a Democratic candidate for governor, opposed the Bellagio's plans (over and above the 20 free hours) to charge admission fees to see the masterpieces.
"The public should not be forced to pay for Mr. Wynn's art collection twice: first with a huge tax break...then again in the form of admission fees," Neal argued.
Wynn, who figures to get $15 million in tax breaks the first year and nearly $3 million a year after that, said earlier that admission fees are necessary because of the high cost of displaying the art, which includes transportation, insurance, and security.
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