A.B. 538
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ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 538–COMMITTEE ON REVENUE
(ON BEHALF OF THE JOINT INTERIM STANDING
COMMITTEE ON REVENUE)
MARCH 24, 2025
____________
Referred to Committee on Revenue
SUMMARY—Revises provisions governing the Board of
Economic Development. (BDR 18-419)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: No.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to economic development; requiring the
appointment of certain temporary members to the Board
of Economic Development for the limited purpose of
considering certain applications for transferable tax
credits, tax abatements and partial tax abatements;
requiring the Office of Economic Development to notify
certain entities upon receipt of an application for
transferable tax credits, a tax abatement or a partial tax
abatement for a business or project in certain rural
counties; requiring the Board to be the entity that
approves certain applications for transferable tax credits, a
tax abatement or a partial tax abatement; and providing
other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law authorizes the Office of Economic Development to approve 1
transferable tax credits and abatements or partial abatements of certain property 2
taxes, business taxes and sales and use taxes for certain businesses in certain 3
circumstances. (NRS 231.1555, 274.310, 274.320, 274.330, 360.750, 360.753, 4
360.754, 360.759, 360.889, 360.945) With certain exceptions, existing law requires 5
a partial tax abatement with a projected value to a single entity of $500,000 or more 6
to be approved by the Board of Economic Development and a partial tax abatement 7
with a projected value to a single entity of less than $500,000 to be approved by the 8
Executive Director of the Office of Economic Development. (NRS 231.0695) 9
Existing law requires an application for certain transferable tax credits which may 10
be issued to a new or expanded business to be considered by the Board if the 11
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application is for transferable tax credits in an amount greater than $100,000. (NRS 12
231.1555) In addition to partial tax abatements, section 3 of this bill requires a tax 13
abatement or transferable tax credits, or a combination of tax abatements, partial 14
tax abatements and transferable tax credits, with a projected value to a single entity 15
or a single project of $500,000 or more to be approved by the Board. 16
Section 3 requires the Office, within 15 days after receiving an application for 17
a tax abatement, partial tax abatement or transferable tax credits which must be 18
approved by the Board and which is for a business or project that is or will be 19
located in a county whose population is less than 100,000 (currently all counties 20
other than Clark and Washoe Counties), to notify the governing body of the county, 21
city and school district in which the business or project is or will be located and the 22
president of each community college located in the county in which the business or 23
project is or will be located. Section 1 of this bill requires each entity which is 24
required to receive such notice, not later than 15 days before any meeting at which 25
the Board will consider such an application, to appoint a representative to serve as a 26
temporary voting member of the Board for the limited purpose of considering and 27
taking action on the application. Section 1 provides that a temporary voting 28
member does not receive compensation from the Board and is not counted as a 29
member of the Board for the purpose of determining the presence of a quorum. 30
Additionally, sections 1, 2, 5 and 6 of this bill authorize a temporary voting 31
member to receive and view any information contained in the application which is 32
available to the other members of the Board. 33
Section 4 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate that the provisions 34
of section 1 requiring the appointment of temporary members applies if the Board 35
is required to consider an application for transferable tax credits for a new or 36
expanded business in an amount greater than $100,000. 37
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 231.033 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
231.033 1. There is hereby created the Board of Economic 2
Development, consisting of: 3
(a) The following voting members: 4
(1) The Governor; 5
(2) The Lieutenant Governor; 6
(3) The Secretary of State; and 7
(4) Six members who must be selected from the private 8
sector and appointed as follows: 9
(I) Three members appointed by the Governor; 10
(II) One member appointed by the Speaker of the 11
Assembly; 12
(III) One member appointed by the Majority Leader of 13
the Senate; and 14
(IV) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of 15
the Assembly or the Minority Leader of the Senate. The Minority 16
Leader of the Senate shall appoint the member for the initial term, 17
the Minority Leader of the Assembly shall appoint the member for 18
the next succeeding term, and thereafter, the authority to appoint the 19
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member for each subsequent term alternates between the Minority 1
Leader of the Assembly and the Minority Leader of the Senate. 2
(b) The following nonvoting members: 3
(1) The Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher 4
Education or his or her designee; 5
(2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction or his or her 6
designee; 7
(3) The Director of the Department of Business and Industry; 8
and 9
(4) The Director of the Department of Employment, Training 10
and Rehabilitation. 11
2. In appointing the members of the Board described in 12
subsection 1, the appointing authorities shall coordinate the 13
appointments when practicable so that the members of the Board 14
represent the diversity of this State, including, without limitation, 15
different strategically important industries, different geographic 16
regions of this State and different professions. 17
3. The Governor shall serve as the Chair of the Board. 18
4. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the 19
members of the Board appointed pursuant to subparagraph (4) of 20
paragraph (a) of subsection 1 are appointed for terms of 4 years. The 21
initial members of the Board shall by lot select three of the initial 22
members of the Board appointed pursuant to subparagraph (4) of 23
paragraph (a) of subsection 1 to serve an initial term of 2 years. 24
5. The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor or the Secretary of 25
State may designate a person to serve as a member of the Board for 26
the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Secretary of State, 27
respectively. Any person designated to serve pursuant to this 28
subsection shall serve for the term of the officer appointing him or 29
her and serves at the pleasure of that officer. If the Governor 30
designates a person to serve on his or her behalf, that person shall 31
serve as the Chair of the Board. Vacancies in the appointed 32
positions on the Board must be filled by the appointing authority for 33
the unexpired term. 34
6. The Executive Director shall serve as the nonvoting 35
Secretary of the Board. 36
7. A majority of the voting members of the Board constitutes a 37
quorum, and the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting 38
members of the Board is required to exercise any power conferred 39
on the Board. 40
8. The Board shall meet at least once each quarter but may 41
meet more often at the call of the Chair or a majority of the voting 42
members of the Board [.] , not including any temporary voting 43
members. 44
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9. The members of the Board serve without compensation but 1
are entitled to receive the per diem allowance and travel expenses 2
provided for state officers and employees generally while engaged 3
in the official business of the Board. 4
10. Not later than 15 days before any meeting at which the 5
Board will take action on an application for a tax abatement, 6
partial tax abatement or transferable tax credits for a business or 7
project that is or will be located in a county whose population is 8
less than 100,000, each entity to which notification is required to 9
be provided pursuant to NRS 231.0695 shall appoint a 10
representative to serve as a temporary voting member of the Board 11
for the sole purpose of considering and taking action on the 12
application. An entity to which notification is required to be 13
provided pursuant to NRS 231.0695 may appoint himself or 14
herself, if the entity is a natural person, or one of its members, if 15
the entity is a governing body. If, within the time required by this 16
subsection, the entity has not made an appointment of a temporary 17
voting member of the Board, the Office may take action on the 18
application without the appointment of such a temporary voting 19
member and the failure to make such an appointment must not be 20
considered for the purposes of determining the presence of a 21
quorum or the number of votes necessary to act on the application. 22
A temporary voting member appointed to the Board pursuant to 23
this subsection: 24
(a) May not vote on or participate in the consideration of any 25
matter before the Board other than the application for which the 26
temporary voting member was appointed. 27
(b) Serves without compensation from the Board and is not 28
entitled to per diem and travel allowances for engaging in any 29
business of the Board, other than any per diem and travel 30
allowances authorized and paid by the entity making the 31
appointment. 32
(c) Is not a member of the Board for the purposes of 33
determining the existence of a quorum pursuant to this section or 34
chapter 241 of NRS. 35
(d) May receive and view any information contained in the 36
application which is available to the members of the Board who 37
are not temporary voting members. 38
Sec. 2. NRS 231.069 is hereby amended to read as follows: 39
231.069 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3 and 40
NRS 231.033, 239.0115, 360.890 and 360.950, the Office shall keep 41
confidential any record or other document of a client which is in its 42
possession if the client: 43
(a) Submits a request in writing that the record or other 44
document be kept confidential by the Office; and 45
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(b) Demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Office that the record 1
or other document contains proprietary or confidential information. 2
2. If the Office determines that a record or other document of a 3
client contains proprietary or confidential information, the 4
Executive Director shall attach to the file containing the record or 5
document: 6
(a) A certificate signed by him or her stating that a request for 7
confidentiality was made by the client and the date of the request; 8
(b) A copy of the written request submitted by the client; 9
(c) The documentation to support the request which was 10
submitted by the client; and 11
(d) A copy of the decision of the Office determining that the 12
record or other document contains proprietary or confidential 13
information. 14
3. The Office may share the records and other documents that 15
are confidential pursuant to this section with the nonprofit 16
corporation formed by the Executive Director pursuant to NRS 17
231.0545, as deemed necessary by the Office to accomplish the 18
purposes for which the nonprofit corporation was formed. 19
4. Records and documents that are confidential pursuant to this 20
section: 21
(a) Are proprietary or confidential information of the business; 22
(b) Are not a public record; and 23
(c) Must not be disclosed to any person who is not an officer or 24
employee of the Office unless the business consents to the 25
disclosure. 26
5. As used in this section, “proprietary or confidential 27
information” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 360.247. 28
Sec. 3. NRS 231.0695 is hereby amended to read as follows: 29
231.0695 1. For the purpose of any tax abatement, partial tax 30
abatement or transferable tax credits which the Office is required 31
or authorized to approve, the Office shall be deemed to have 32
approved the tax abatement, partial tax abatement [:] or 33
transferable tax credits: 34
(a) Upon approval by the Board for tax abatements, partial tax 35
abatements , transferable tax credits or any combination of tax 36
abatements, partial tax abatements and transferable tax credits 37
with a projected value to a single entity or, with respect to NRS 38
360.880 to 360.980, inclusive, a single project of $500,000 or more; 39
or 40
(b) Upon approval by the Executive Director for tax 41
abatements, partial tax abatements , transferable tax credits or any 42
combination of tax abatements, partial tax abatements and 43
transferable tax credits with a projected value to a single entity or, 44
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with respect to NRS 360.880 to 360.980, inclusive, a single project 1
of less than $500,000. 2
2. If the Office receives an application for a tax abatement, a 3
partial tax abatement or transferable tax credits for a business or 4
project that is or will be located in a county whose population is 5
less than 100,000 and to which paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of 6
this section or subsection 5 of NRS 231.1555 applies, the Office 7
shall, not later than 15 days after receiving the application, notify: 8
(a) The governing body of: 9
(1) Each county in which the business or project is or will 10
be located; 11
(2) Each city in which the business or project is or will be 12
located; and 13
(3) Each school district in which the business or project is 14
or will be located; and 15
(b) The president of each community college located in the 16
county in which the business or project is or will be located. 17
3. For the purposes of this section, “projected value” means the 18
dollar value of the abatement or tax credits requested by an entity or 19
on behalf of a project plus the accumulated value of all tax 20
abatements and tax credits received by that entity or project for the 21
immediately preceding 2 years. 22
Sec. 4. NRS 231.1555 is hereby amended to read as follows: 23
231.1555 1. A person who intends to locate or expand a 24
business in this State may apply to the Office for a certificate of 25
eligibility for transferable tax credits which may be applied to: 26
(a) Any tax imposed by chapter 363A or 363B of NRS; 27
(b) The gaming license fee imposed by the provisions of 28
NRS 463.370; 29
(c) Any tax imposed by chapter 680B of NRS; or 30
(d) Any combination of the fees and taxes described in 31
paragraphs (a), (b) and (c). 32
2. After considering any advice and recommendations of the 33
Board, the Executive Director shall establish: 34
(a) Procedures for applying to the Office for a certificate of 35
eligibility for transferable tax credits which must: 36
(1) Include, without limitation, a requirement that the 37
applicant set forth in the application: 38
(I) The proposed use of the transferable tax credits; 39
(II) The plans, projects and programs for which the 40
transferable tax credits will be used; 41
(III) The expected benefits of the issuance of the 42
transferable tax credits; and 43
(IV) A statement of the short-term and long-term impacts 44
of the issuance of the transferable tax credits; and 45
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(2) Allow the applicant to revise the application upon the 1
recommendation of the Executive Director. 2
(b) The criteria which a person to whom a certificate of 3
eligibility for transferable tax credits has been issued must satisfy to 4
be issued a certificate of transferable tax credits. 5
3. After receipt of an application pursuant to this section, the 6
Executive Director shall review and evaluate the application and 7
determine whether the approval of the application would promote 8
the economic development of this State and aid the implementation 9
of the State Plan for Economic Development developed by the 10
Executive Director pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 231.053. 11
4. If the applicant is requesting transferable tax credits in an 12
amount of $100,000 or less, the Executive Director may approve the 13
application, subject to the provisions of subsection 6, if the 14
Executive Director determines that approving the application will 15
promote the economic development of this State and aid the 16
implementation of the State Plan for Economic Development. 17
5. If the applicant is requesting transferable tax credits in an 18
amount greater than $100,000, the Executive Director shall submit 19
the application and the Executive Director’s review and evaluation 20
of the application pursuant to subsection 3 to the Board, and the 21
Board may approve the application, subject to the provisions of 22
subsection 6 [,] of this section and subsection 10 of NRS 231.033, 23
if the Board determines that approving the application will promote 24
the economic development of this State and aid the implementation 25
of the State Plan for Economic Development. 26
6. The Executive Director or the Board shall not approve any 27
application for transferable tax credits for: 28
(a) A period of more than 5 fiscal years; 29
(b) Fiscal Year 2015-2016; or 30
(c) Any fiscal year if the approval of the application would 31
cause the total amount of transferable tax credits issued pursuant to 32
this section to exceed: 33
(1) For Fiscal Year 2016-2017, $1,000,000. 34
(2) For Fiscal Year 2017-2018, $2,000,000. 35
(3) For Fiscal Year 2018-2019, $2,000,000. 36
(4) For Fiscal Year 2019-2020, $3,000,000. 37
(5) For a fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2020, 38
$5,000,000. 39
7. If the Executive Director or the Board approves an 40
application and issues a certificate of eligibility for transferable tax 41
credits, the Office shall immediately forward a copy of the 42
certificate of eligibility which identifies the estimated amount of the 43
tax credits available pursuant to this section to: 44
(a) The applicant; 45
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(b) The Department of Taxation; and 1
(c) The Nevada Gaming Control Board. 2
8. Within 14 days after the Office determines that a person to 3
whom a certificate of eligibility for transferable tax credits has been 4
issued satisfies the criteria established by the Executive Director 5
pursuant to subsection 2, the Office shall notify the person that 6
transferable tax credits will be issued. Within 30 days after the 7
receipt of the notice, the person shall make an irrevocable 8
declaration of the amount of transferable tax credits that will be 9
applied to each fee or tax set forth in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of 10
subsection 1, thereby accounting for all of the credits which will be 11
issued. Upon receipt of the declaration, the Office shall issue to the 12
person a certificate of transferable tax credits in the amount 13
approved by the Executive Director or the Board, as applicable, for 14
the fees or taxes included in the declaration. The Office shall notify 15
the Department of Taxation and the Nevada Gaming Control Board 16
of all transferable tax credits issued, segregated by each fee or tax 17
set forth in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection 1, and the 18
amount of any transferable tax credits transferred. 19
Sec. 5. NRS 360.890 is hereby amended to read as follows: 20
360.890 1. If the Office of Economic Development receives 21
an application pursuant to NRS 360.889, the Office: 22
(a) Shall not consider the application unless the Office has 23
requested a letter of acknowledgment of the request for a partial 24
abatement from any county, school district, city or town which the 25
Office determines may experience a direct economic effect as a 26
result of the partial abatement. 27
(b) Shall not take any action on the application unless the Office 28
takes that action at a public meeting conducted for that purpose. 29
(c) Shall, at least 30 days before any public meeting conducted 30
for the purpose of taking any action on the application, provide 31
notice of the application and the date, time and location of the public 32
meeting at which the Office will consider the application to: 33
(1) Each participant in the project; 34
(2) The Department; 35
(3) The Nevada Gaming Control Board; 36
(4) The governing body of the county, the board of trustees 37
of the school district and the governing body of the city or town, if 38
any, in which the project will be located; 39
(5) The governing body of any other political subdivision 40
that the Office determines could experience a direct economic effect 41
as a result of the abatement; and 42
(6) The general public. 43
2. The date of the public meeting to consider an application 44
submitted pursuant to NRS 360.889 must be not later than 60 days 45
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after the date on which the Office receives the completed 1
application. 2
3. The Office shall approve an application submitted pursuant 3
to NRS 360.889 if the Office finds that the project is a qualified 4
project. The Office shall issue a decision on the application not later 5
than 30 days after the conclusion of the public meeting on the 6
application. Not later than 30 days after the Office issues a decision 7
approving an application submitted pursuant to NRS 360.889 in 8
which the lead participant applies for a certificate of eligibility for 9
the transferable tax credits described in paragraph (a) of subsection 10
1 of NRS 360.889, the Office must submit a written request to the 11
Interim Finance Committee for approval of the issuance of the 12
transferable tax credits. 13
4. The lead participant in a qualified project shall submit all 14
accountings and other required information to the Office and the 15
Department not later than 30 days after a date specified in the 16
decision issued by the Office. If the Office or the Department 17
determines that information submitted pursuant to this subsection is 18
incomplete, the lead participant shall, not later than 30 days after 19
receiving notice that the information is incomplete, provide to the 20
Office or the Department, as applicable, all additional information 21
required by the Office or the Department. 22
5. Until the Office of Economic Development provides notice 23
of the application and the public meeting pursuant to paragraph (c) 24
of subsection 1, the information contained in the application 25
provided to the Office of Economic Development: 26
(a) Is confidential proprietary information of the business; 27
(b) Is not a public record; and 28
(c) Must not be disclosed to any person who is not an officer or 29
employee of the Office of Economic Development unless the lead 30
participant consents to the disclosure. 31
6. After the Office provides notice of the application and the 32
public meeting pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 1: 33
(a) The application is a public record; and 34
(b) Upon request by any person, the Executive Director of the 35
Office shall disclose the application to the person who made the 36
request, except for any information in the application that is 37
protected from disclosure pursuant to subsection 7. 38
7. Before the Executive Director of the Office discloses the 39
application to the public, the lead participant may submit a request 40
to the Executive Director of the Office to protect from disclosure 41
any information in the application which, under generally accepted 42
business practices, would be considered a trade secret or other 43
confidential proprietary information of the business. After 44
consulting with the business, the Executive Director of the Office 45
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shall determine whether to protect the information from disclosure. 1
The decision of the Executive Director of the Office is final and is 2
not subject to judicial review. If the Executive Director of the Office 3
determines to protect the information from disclosure, the protected 4
information: 5
(a) Is confidential proprietary information of the business; 6
(b) Is not a public record; 7
(c) Must be redacted by the Executive Director of the Office 8
from any copy of the application that is disclosed to the public; and 9
(d) [Must] Except as otherwise provided in NRS 231.033, must 10
not be disclosed to any person who is not an officer or employee of 11
the Office of Economic Development unless the lead participant 12
consents to the disclosure. 13
Sec. 6. NRS 360.950 is hereby amended to read as follows: 14
360.950 1. If the Office of Economic Development receives 15
an application pursuant to NRS 360.945, the Office: 16
(a) Shall not consider the application unless the Office has 17
requested a letter of acknowledgment of the request for an 18
abatement from any county, school district, city or town which the 19
Office determines may experience a direct economic effect as a 20
result of the abatement. 21
(b) Shall not take any action on the application unless the Office 22
takes that action at a public meeting conducted for that purpose. 23
(c) Shall, at least 30 days before any public meeting conducted 24
for the purpose of taking any action on the application, provide 25
notice of the application and the date, time and location of the public 26
meeting at which the Office will consider the application to: 27
(1) Each participant in the project; 28
(2) The Department; 29
(3) The Nevada Gaming Control Board; 30
(4) The governing body of the county, the board of trustees 31
of the school district and the governing body of the city or town, if 32
any, in which the project will be located; 33
(5) The governing body of any other political subdivision 34
that the Office determines could experience a direct economic effect 35
as a result of the abatement; and 36
(6) The general public. 37
2. The date of the public meeting to consider an application 38
submitted pursuant to NRS 360.945 must be not later than 60 days 39
after the date on which the Office receives the completed 40
application. 41
3. The Office shall approve an application submitted pursuant 42
to NRS 360.945 if the Office finds that the project is a qualified 43
project. The Office shall issue a decision on the application not later 44
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than 30 days after the conclusion of the public meeting on the 1
application. 2
4. The lead participant in a qualified project shall submit all 3
accountings and other required information to the Office and the 4
Department not later than 30 days after a date specified in the 5
decision issued by the Office. If the Office or the Department 6
determines that information submitted pursuant to this subsection is 7
incomplete, the lead participant shall, not later than 30 days after 8
receiving notice that the information is incomplete, provide to the 9
Office or the Department, as applicable, all additional information 10
required by the Office or the Department. 11
5. Until the Office of Economic Development provides notice 12
of the application and the public meeting pursuant to paragraph (c) 13
of subsection 1, the information contained in the application 14
provided to the Office of Economic Development: 15
(a) Is confidential proprietary information of the business; 16
(b) Is not a public record; and 17
(c) [Must] Except as otherwise provided in NRS 231.033, must 18
not be disclosed to any person who is not an officer or employee of 19
the Office of Economic Development unless the lead participant 20
consents to the disclosure. 21
6. After the Office provides notice of the application and the 22
public meeting pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 1: 23
(a) The application is a public record; and 24
(b) Upon request by any person, the Executive Director of the 25
Office shall disclose the application to the person who made the 26
request, except for any information in the application that is 27
protected from disclosure pursuant to subsection 7. 28
7. Before the Executive Director of the Office discloses the 29
application to the public, the lead participant may submit a request 30
to the Executive Director of the Office to protect from disclosure 31
any information in the application which, under generally accepted 32
business practices, would be considered a trade secret or other 33
confidential proprietary information of the business. After 34
consulting with the business, the Executive Director of the Office 35
shall determine whether to protect the information from disclosure. 36
The decision of the Executive Director of the Office is final and is 37
not subject to judicial review. If the Executive Director of the Office 38
determines to protect the information from disclosure, the protected 39
information: 40
(a) Is confidential proprietary information of the business; 41
(b) Is not a public record; 42
(c) Must be redacted by the Executive Director of the Office 43
from any copy of the application that is disclosed to the public; and 44
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(d) Must not be disclosed to any person who is not an officer or 1
employee of the Office of Economic Development unless the lead 2
participant consents to the disclosure. 3
Sec. 7. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025. 4
H