Harrah's [Caesars] gets property tax reduction in Reno

State cuts value of Harrah's; owners say they'd sell property for $8M

Aug. 21, 2013

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A state tax panel has ordered a $4 million reduction in the taxable value of Harrah's hotel-casino in downtown Reno. / RGJ file photo

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Staff and wire reports

A state tax panel has ordered a $4 million reduction in the taxable value of Harrah’s hotel-casino in downtown Reno.

But Harrah’s officials say that’s still about twice as much as the $8 million they think they could get if they tried to sell the aging property that also needs about $19 million in repairs.

Reno-Sparks casinos, battling recession and Indian gaming in California, saw revenues fall for six straight years before eking out a fractional rise in the fiscal year ending June 30.

“Reno doesn’t have anything that produces significant revenue. It’s a little property in a little town,” Reno gaming analyst Ken Adams said of Harrah’s Reno. “(Caesars) has cut its maintenance budget ... and that means normal maintenance isn’t getting done someplace. They are doing things on the Strip, but not in Reno.”

On Monday, the State Board of Equalization voted to put the property’s taxable value at $16.2 million, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

Before the vote, the Washoe County Assessor’s Office had set hotel-casino’s value at $20.5 million compared with the $8.8 million Harrah’s claims the property, crowned by the 25-story, 928-room tower built in the late 1960s, is worth.

John Knott, a Harrah’s consultant, told the board the hotel is not in good condition and estimates the necessary improvements would cost $19 million.

He said Harrah’s parent company, Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment, probably would sell it for $8 million.

The longtime downtown Reno casino is rooted to founder Bill Harrah’s bingo parlor that opened in 1937.

For years, Harrah’s Reno stood as the pillar of the Reno casino market until the late 1970s, when the evolution of corporate gaming reached Northern Nevada with the arrival of such giants as Circus Circus and the MGM Grand-Reno, now the Grand Sierra Resort.

After Harrah’s death in 1978, his company was acquired by corporate owners, most recently Caesars, which has struggled financially and whose properties elsewhere, notably on the Las Vegas Strip, far eclipse Harrah’s Reno in size and revenue.


http://www.rgj.com/viewart/20130821/BIZ04/308210045/State-cuts-value-Harrah-s-owners-say-they-d-sell-property-8M