Spectrum Gaming: CT Report

The Spectrum Report is available in its entirety on the United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts web site.

The slap dash proposal presented by Speaker "Racino" DeLeo lays the groundwork for Massachusetts taxpayers to pick up the tab for gambling investors, just as CT taxpayers have done.

From:
Page 11

Are taxpayers picking up part of the tab for casino regulatory costs?

The agreements negotiated with the Indian tribes require them to pay for all "reasonable
and necessary" regulatory costs. That money is in addition to the 25 percent contribution on gross slot win. At issue is whether the state can recover its indirect costs.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued an opinion in 1998 that said the state
could and should recover all of its indirect costs. Blumenthal concluded that ―proper and accepted accounting practices‖ require that such costs be recovered.

Yet, despite the opinion, the state has – according to information provided to us in the
course of this research – failed to collect all of those costs, putting Connecticut taxpayers in the position of paying for a portion of regulatory costs, something that was not supposed to occur based on the agreements negotiated with the tribes.

At our request, the state Office of Policy and Management provided us with budget data
for the regulatory agencies from the 2004 to 2008 fiscal years. It shows that the state sustained deficits totaling nearly $16 million during that period – $8.6 million at Mohegan Sun and $7.3 million at Foxwoods.