Businesses in Nevada will pay about $77 more per employee in state unemployment-insurance taxes next year in order to build up the state’s jobless benefits trust fund, which was depleted during the Great Recession as a record number of workers lost their jobs.
Nevada has been borrowing money since late 2009 and as of October owes $625 million to the federal government. That balance at one point reached $800 million.
The state is also paying interest on the federal loan after officials in 2011 set aside $66 million from the general fund for interest payments. State officials estimate interest charges for the next two-year budget cycle will total $40 million to $48 million.
The Department of Employment and Training adopted a new average tax rate of 2.25 percent on the first $26,900 of an employee’s wages. The new rate takes effect January 1 and amounts to a 12.5 percent increase under a formula used to calculate the tax.
Agency staff estimate Nevada may be able to pay off the loan by 2016, and the state’s trust fund could become solvent again by 2018. It’s unknown whether the state will use its general fund dollars to cover the interest costs.
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