SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Gov. Jim Gibbons today responded to politicians and media reports criticizing his budget solutions rather than recognizing that through “some collaboration and a lot of hard work this administration has been able to balance the budget for this biennium. This criticism does not recognize that this problem is fixable and I have presented a plan to fix it. If anyone else has any ideas on how to fix it, I am listening.”
Yesterday, Gibbon
s signed the proclamation to hold a special session of the Nevada Legislature next week. Gibbons is proposing closing loopholes in the tax structure for the mining industry to limit the number of deductions they can take when calculating their taxes. Gibbons has also proposed closing a loophole to make sure Nevada businesses who sell products online pay sales taxes, just like regular businesses in Nevada stores and malls.
“What citizen in this state gets to subtract deductions from their property taxes? We are closing loopholes so the mining industry pays its fair share, just like all other major businesses in Nevada,” Gibbons said.
“I do not view these proposals as tax increases,” Gibbons said. “It is a fairness issue to make sure no business gets special treatment.”
Gibbons reminded everyone about the 2009 legislative session raising the sales tax and the payroll tax. “Unlike my proposals, those are clearly tax hikes,” Gibbons added. “My staff continues to work with state departments to seek a 15 percent reduction in all contracts, remove the 5 percent add-ons to salaries, freeze hiring and implement other cost saving measures to get Nevada through this fiscal crisis.”
