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Progress Continues Downtown Las Vegas may be the center of the Las Vegas Valley, but it has not been the epicenter of economic growth, arts, culture, entertainment or modern urban living. Though, if Mayor Oscar Goodman and other visionaries continue to have their way, that is all about to change. Downtown Las Vegas is on track for a renaissance and people will never think of … [Read more...] about Downtown Redevelopment

YES Kara Kelley is the president & CEO of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce It is time for us to bring public employee pay in line with the private sector and to reform public employee retirement benefits to create reasonable promises that are fair to public employees, to taxpayers and to future generations. Earlier this year, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce … [Read more...] about State the Issues: Should Nevada’s public employees’ salaries and benefits be restructured to resemble the private sector and their counterparts across the country?

Managing property is an exacting and complex enterprise. While many people assume it’s simply a matter of paying bills on time and collecting rent, in actuality the duties are far more involved and challenging. By hiring professionals, property owners can save time, energy and money. Plus, by leaving the management duties to the experts, property owners and investors can … [Read more...] about Understanding the True Value of Property Management

Estate planning is a key component in a wealth management program and yet, too few individuals take the appropriate steps to create a wealth transfer plan. In most cases, people do not approach estate planning with eagerness or ease, but unexpected tragedies occur often and this is reason enough to address estate planning as a financial priority. Hesitancy with regards to … [Read more...] about Transferring Wealth: Securing tax-efficient distribution of your wealth

The need for property rights reform in Nevada is clear. Property rights that are defensible under the rule of law are the very foundation of a market economy. However, property rights in Nevada have eroded due to a set of community redevelopment laws that confer dangerous amounts of power upon local politicians. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a controversial decision … [Read more...] about Eminent Domain, a True Infringement: The case for reform of Nevada’s redevelopment laws

Great news, you are about to sell your home, investment real estate, closely held business or other real property at a large gain. Bad news, a large gain means a large tax liability. Since the beginning of time or the beginning of the income tax at least, taxpayers have wanted to defer their tax obligations. So how can you keep the tax man at bay? A seller’s options Sellers … [Read more...] about Keeping the Tax Man at Bay: Defer taxes via a structured sale

Transportation in Nevada has faced numerous challenges during the last several years. Rapid growth has contributed to congested highways, which degrades the economic vitality of a city as well as the quality of life for our residents and visitors. Highway revenue sources have not kept pace with inflation, high fuel prices have contributed to increases in road building materials … [Read more...] about Nevada Department of Transportation Gets Creative

The Las Vegas commercial office market continues to be impacted by national instability as well as a local market that is facing its most significant supply-demand imbalance in recent history. At the national level, softening fundamentals and a financial market in crisis have slowed new business development to a crawl and put several business expansions on hold – a challenging … [Read more...] about Las Vegas Commercial Office Market: A market performance update and analysis

Property owners across the state may question their assessments from time to time and may very well not agree with the stated value of their property, which determines the annual property tax owed. What happens when the county you live in arbitrarily institutes new assessment guidelines that substantially increase your assessed value? That is exactly what happened to some … [Read more...] about Taxation Without Justification: Property Owners Fight Back

In our extremely challenging economic climate, many commercial borrowers are experiencing major difficulties in meeting outstanding loan obligations. With tightening credit markets and increasingly strict underwriting guidelines, refinancing existing debt or selling assets to a third party are not feasible options. In addition, it is extremely likely that the person with whom … [Read more...] about Loan Workouts, A Strong Alternative

Healthcare, like every other industry in the state is undergoing substantial challenges. Serving the uninsured, dealing with regulations, collections, protecting itself from lawsuits and maintaining staff are not new challenges. Administrators and healthcare professionals have dealt with these issues for years, but the economic downturn has created even more challenges for … [Read more...] about Healthcare Checkup: Hospital Administrators Address Challenges

While the economy and budget shortfalls are sure to take center stage at the next session of the Nevada Legislature, not far behind will be healthcare reform. In the wake of one of Nevada’s worst medical disasters, the Hepatitis C scare at several Las Vegas endoscopy clinics, lawmakers will certainly be looking for ways to provide more oversight of the medical community … [Read more...] about Healthcare Reform Gets Political: Expect increased oversight of the medical community

The current economic downturn has created worrisome waves in the business world pool. It seems no one is immune to the effects of the economic climate and many businesses are scrambling to maintain steady ground and find solutions during these uncertain times. While reports show thousands of lay-offs in various industries, ranging from the casino sector to real … [Read more...] about Hiring a Tech Consultant: Advantages in a down economy

The FDIC’s take over of several banks this year has depositors concerned and in some cases panicked about the security of their funds. However, the FDIC sticker on the front window of your bank is not the only determinant of your banks financial resilience. “A depositors first consideration should be the ‘safe and soundness’ of their banking institution,” said Larry … [Read more...] about A Depositors Due Diligence: A banks “safe and soundness” and FDIC

Housing, credit, and energy, the three major economic problems confronting the U.S. and some states, have taken the steam out of the economy. The impact reminds one of a Caribbean hurricane season hitting the same area more than once and each time spawning tidal surges and killer tornados. Today, we grapple with the economic storms’ aftermath--depreciating housing values, a … [Read more...] about October 2008: Business Indicators