Nevada's Mining Audit Scam

March 28, 2011

The Tax Commission met yesterday about mining company audits and the acting Tax Department director, Chris Nielsen offered a plan. He said audits will take some time and won’t start until May, too late for consideration this session. Plus he will hire Dennis Neilander the former Gaming Control Board chairman for his alleged expertise and borrow auditors from Gaming Control to do the work.

By taking auditors from Gaming it leaves casino audits deficient. It’s not like Gaming has a bunch of extra auditors just sitting around; the agency has faced similar budget cuts and constraints like any state agency. And who says casinos are properly audited? I certainly don’t and have said so in the past. Privatize Some Casino Audits, 01-12-09

Taking from one agency and giving to another is exactly how Sandoval “balanced” the budget … by stealing from counties and higher education to plug the budget holes. It is a short-term fix and solves nothing. It is also a scam. But in doing this audit slight of hand, Sandoval fulfills his promises to protect mining and gaming under the “No New Taxes” mantra. Note: These are the same companies that paid for his political campaign and inaugural ball.

Sandoval’s transparent corruption is breath-taking.