Use money where it will do the most good
There’s no denying that Reno is in a state of flux. As the gambling industry has become less of a draw for visitors, City Hall is struggling to find ways to capture an audience that has long abandoned the Biggest Little City. One of the current proposed ways is to make the Aces Ballpark that glimmer of hope, much to the dismay of this columnist.
With the proposition of funneling public dollars ($30 million over the next 30 years) into refinancing a $55 million loan for the Aces stadium, we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. While it may be the hope that the stadium will bring fresh life into downtown commerce, the fact is that gambling is a business that is waning, and there is an expectation of special treatment that other businesses do not generally receive.
Now, I feel just as badly as the next gal to see a giant like the Aces ballpark decline. It gives me no pleasure to see people besieged by the brutal forces of the free market. It straight up sucks. But is it the responsibility of the Northern Nevada taxpayer to prop up a failing business with a multi-million dollar loan? The stadium might bring visitors to downtown, provide jobs for people operating the stadium or bring some positive attention to Reno, but what it wouldn’t do is efficiently promote growth the way other economic projects would. And, if it has to be spent, $30 million could go a hell of a lot further to stimulate the Reno economy if it were applied elsewhere.
My New Year’s wish is to see greater economic development in the areas where the Reno area is on the up-and-up. If City Council wants to find a way to draw in new commerce, it needs to embrace and promote businesses that revolve around the artistry of technological development. The upcoming Apple data center in Sparks will undoubtedly draw positive national attention to northern Nevada, and the projection is that it will pump in approximately $1 billion to the state’s economy, according to Wired magazine. And to roughly quote Field of Dreams (See? I’m maintaining the baseball theme), if you build an Apple data center, other rich, nerd-chic tech businesses will come.
With tax increases and city bankruptcies hitting California hard, a mass exodus of corporate wealth and technological talent has begun to move away from The Golden State. If Reno plays its cards right and caters to the sensibilities of the displaced geniuses of Silicon Valley, it could look forward to a very healthy stream of revenue for the new businesses and jobs they could bring to our area. The presence of wealth in any city inevitably creates a snowball effect that draws in more business, especially high-end designers and the proliferation of luxury goods.
The question now is, what concrete measures can be taken to attract and maintain tech talent in the Reno area? First of all, offer established and profitable tech companies incentives to set up shop. Reduce (or eliminate) property taxes for the first five years of business. Nevada technically loses little to no revenue if it attracts businesses that wouldn’t have come here in the first place. Businessmen and their employees would still pay sales tax and property tax on their homes in Reno, so they are continuing to contribute to the economy as a whole.
About 44 percent of Nevada college students graduate with debt, and the average amount of debt is $20,000. If the money designated for the Aces ballpark were instead to be put toward student loan forgiveness, that would mean approximately 2,250 students would have the incentive to bring their talent for technology into the Nevada economy instead of taking it elsewhere.
I truly believe that the intentions of City Council are good. They want to support local businesses, and they want to grow the economy. But without a meaningful and efficient allocation of funds, they are merely investing in a monetary sinkhole. If the ballpark has failed to bring in promised revenue, then it’s time to rethink whether throwing more money at the problem is the solution.