Nev. Lawmakers Kill Arena Bill

A Senate bill that would have allowed three developers to vie for public funding for arena projects in Las Vegas effectively died June 6 following scrutiny from Nevada legislators.

With just days until the end of the legislative session, lawmakers heard Texas-based developer Chris Milam’s pitch for a three-venue complex near the Strip; a proposal from Majestic Realty Co. CEO Ed Roski for a 40,000-seat stadium at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and a plan supported by Cordish Company and the city of Las Vegas for an arena to revitalize downtown.

While Milam’s plan calls for a tax on tickets and concessions to help fund his project, the city of Las Vegas proposed using tax dollars from a redevelopment district and the UNLV plan sought property tax revenues, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

But the plans apparently weren’t convincing enough, as some legislators questioned during the session whether Senate Bill 501 was being rushed through without sufficient deliberation.

“We have to talk about the policy,” Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said, according to the Sun. “Folks forget we have to make sure the policy is right.”

In the end, lawmakers apparently ran out of time to fix problems in the bill. Developers will have to come up with new proposals for financing if they want their projects to continue.

In other arena news, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval recently signed a bill into law that places a measure on the ballot that would prohibit the formation of special taxing districts. The bill was passed by the state assembly May 23 and creates some competition for an initiative backed by Caesars Entertainment to build a $448 million arena on the Strip using public funds.