Nevada lawmakers convened Monday to consider raising taxes in the Las Vegas area to help fund a $1.9 billion football stadium that would lure the Raiders from Oakland.
The proposed deal would increase the hotel tax on the Las Vegas Strip by 0.88 percentage points for the stadium, as well as 0.5 percentage points for a proposed new convention center. Tourists already pay a 12 percent hotel room tax, which funds tourism improvement projects, schools and other services.
They would pay about $1.50 more per night on the average nightly Strip hotel bill if both proposals pass.
Meanwhile, in Oakland, Mayor Libby Schaaf remains hopeful the Raiders will stay, but she admits it's a tall order getting the team to focus on a possible stadium in her city while it entertains the idea of moving to Las Vegas if a stadium is built there.
The Raiders signed a lease extension in April that keeps the team at the Oakland Coliseum at least through the end of this year and possibly for two more years.
"It's really good for the city to have them stay here," Raiders fan Philina Lim said. "They have a lot of really loyal fans here in Oakland.
Schaaf said the Raiders are important to the city and has hired a point man to find a way to keep them. But the team's energy right now seems all about Las Vegas.
Players say it's not a distraction.
"Right now, as players, all we can do is go out there and compete every Sunday or Monday night," said Shioique Calhoun. "And if we land in Las Vegas, then we'll do what we need to do there."
Las Vegas has long been a pariah for professional sports leagues because of Nevada's legal sports betting. But the stigma appears to be fading after the National Hockey League announced this summer that it plans to place an expansion team there starting in the 2017-2018 season.
NFL owners would have to vote by a three-fourths majority to allow the Raiders to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he wants to try to keep the team in the Bay Area, while the team's owner, Mark Davis, said he's serious about moving the team to Las Vegas in time for the 2020 season.
Behind the deal is Las Vegas Sands casino owner and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, who's worth about $32 billion and ranks as the 14th richest person in the U.S. on Forbes' latest rankings. Opponents say he, of all people, can afford to fully finance the stadium on his own. Adelson is committing $650 million to the project, while asking for $750 million from hotel tax revenue to cover bonds and $500 million from the Raiders and the NFL.
There's no set end date to the special session.
NBC Bay Area's Terry McSweeney and Bay City News contributed to this report.
Click here to view original web page at www.nbcbayarea.com
