SMOKING CASINOS QUALIFY FOR BREAKS AS 'GREEN' ENVIRONMENTS
Hatice Gecol, director of the state Office of Energy, issued a
regulation in March that said a casino with smoking customers
could be considered "green," or environmentally friendly.
That ruling allowed casinos to qualify as green buildings under
Nevada law that granted massive property and sales tax breaks
for companies that built environmentally friendly buildings.
Gecol, who is also Gov. Jim Gibbons' chief energy adviser,
didn't return two phone calls Tuesday for comment.
The tax breaks could translate into as much as $900 million in
lost revenue during the next decade, according to the Clark
County School District. State legislators and analysts
acknowledge they know little about the amount of the potential
loss in revenue.
Given discouraging new revenue projections, the Legislature
passed a bill freezing the tax breaks last week; Gibbons hasn't
decided whether to sign or veto it.
