Teachers business tax proposal headed to 2014 Nevada ballot

CARSON CITY — No action was taken Thursday by the Assembly Taxation Committee on the Nevada State Education Association’s initiative petition to raise $800 million for public education through a 2 percent business margins tax.

That means the petition automatically will be placed before voters as a ballot question in the November 2014 election. With their approval, the tax would go into effect in 2015 with collections starting in 2016.

Under a state constitutional amendment, legislators had until the 40th day of the session to act on the petition, or it would be forwarded to voters. Today is the 40th day of the 2013 session, and the Assembly Taxation Committee is not scheduled to meet.

During the sole hearing on the petition Feb. 25, a line of business owners objected to the tax, some saying it might put them out of business. The first $1 million earned by a business would be exempt from the tax. But businesses then could take only limited deductions before calculating their taxes. That means some unprofitable businesses could be taxed.

The Legislature still could pass later this session an alternative to the business tax petition.

Sen. Michael Roberson of Las Vegas and five other Republican senators have proposed a question that calls for higher taxes on mining. That question, however, has not won favor from Gov. Brian Sandoval or Assembly Republicans.

If approved by the Legislature later this session, the mining ballot question would be an option for voters to consider. If it secured more votes than the business margins tax initiative, if it is more than 50 percent, then it would become law.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.