Tax break pulled 'out of the air' could cost state $900 million

Las Vegas Sun ^ | 20 may 07 | Joe Schoenmann

[rellimpank]

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CARSON CITY - Not as though it happens every day, but sometimes listening to National Public Radio can cost your state $1 billion.

In 2004 Chris Giunchigliani, then a state assemblywoman, was listening to NPR while working on "smart growth" bills to introduce the next year.

"Suddenly, I heard someone on the radio talking about 'green building,' and I thought, 'Gee, that would be good to have here, too.' "

Giunchigliani, now a Clark County commissioner, loves government policy the way some people love to breathe. She quickly searched online and found out what it means to go "green." She found a few other states giving tax breaks to businesses for building green.

She came up with her own tax break: 50 percent. If a business met a certain green standard, it would get a 50 percent property tax break for 10 years. And if a business applied in the fourth quarter of 2005, it could qualify for a 50 percent sales tax break on construction materials.

[rellimpank]

--illustrative of the thought process of "legislators"--

[SIDENET]

She came up with her own tax break: 50 percent.

Doling out 50% tax breaks?

I wonder what her cut is.

[NonValueAdded]

It wasn't the air from which she pulled the idea. :) The tax assessors can help lessen the impact, though, by raising the assessment on green buildings since they would arguably have more value to an owner than a comparable non-green property.

And given her other hare-brained bits of legislative activism mentioned in the article, the NV GOP (if there is such a beast) would be well-served to have someone assigned to closely scrutinize her legislative output.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The article doesn’t say, but who wants to bet that she’s a democrat? A scatterbrained, airhead, hippy-dippy, tree-hugging “well-intentioned” democrat. I don’t blame the casinos and other firms for taking advantage of her stupidity.

[M203M4]

Followed by a $900 million spending cut, right? Right? Or is it yet another ‘tax shift’, or an ‘inflate out of the debt’ utopian exercise?

[boop]

What a humorous article. Going “green” will cost states lots of tax dollars. They’ll have to make it up elsewhere, so everyone else will have to pay higher taxes to cover the loss. Joe sixpack will literally have to pay more so that the Wynn hotel doesn’t. Ironic how this is EXACTLY a tax break for the rich at the expense of the poor. All brought to you by liberals.

[rellimpank]

--yes--she is.

I have no problem with any government being deprived of "income"--but as others point out, the geniui in legislative bodies will find some other source of funds--

[Shermy]

“”In 2004 Chris Giunchigliani, then a state assemblywoman, was listening to NPR while working on “smart growth” bills to introduce the next year. “Suddenly, I heard someone on the radio talking about ‘green building,’ and I thought, ‘Gee, that would be good to have here, too.’ “

Gosh, I didn’t know that worked so easy.

Now I understand why the carbon traders have floated their propaganda as “news investigations” on NPR for 2 years...it works on Democrats.