Nevada casinos could get tax credit

CARSON CITY -- A plan to give casinos a tax credit of up to $500,000 a year for building affordable housing passed has won unanimous approval in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

AB540, endorsed Friday, would allow the Division of Housing to split the $500,000 in tax credits each year among companies participating in the program.

"It may all go to one property or to more than one. There is no limit on geographical area or distribution. This would be an option for any unlimited gaming licensee in the state to take advantage of," said Joe Johnson, a lobbyist for the Nevada Housing Coalition, which sought the measure.

Affordable housing is built for people with low to moderate incomes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines that as anything equal to or less than 110 percent of the median gross income for a county.

Assemblywoman Shelia Leslie, D-Reno, proposed the incentive -- a recycled version of a 1997 plan by Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. Buckley's plan was eventually killed because of its $1 million pricetag.

But supporters say the need for affordable housing is still high.

According to an interim committee's report, Nevada's population has increased 54.4 percent since 1980. Proponents of the bill say many of those new citizens are either retired or lured by minimum-wage casino jobs.

"This will allow for gaming enterprises to reinvest in the communities. Nevada currently has an unmet need for affordable housing. Washoe County will need 16,000 affordable housing units by the year 2015," said Eileen Piekarz, chief of the nonprofit Affordable Housing Resource Council.

The state's top casino lobbyist, Harvey Whittemore, testified on his own behalf as a partner in a development company. He said he supports the bill and gave the committee some strategic advice about how to get it past tight-fisted budget committees this year.

"If the potential difficulty in passing this is the anticipated fiscal note, put it into law after the close of the fiscal year so it'd have to be built into the budget of the next biennium," Whittemore said.

The committee amended the bill in line with his advice and sent it on to the full Assembly. Without the change, it would have to go to a budget review panel.

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