Iowa Casinos: Ever the Whiners

By whatever description Slot Barns are extremely profitable and fail to pay their fair share of costs and impacts.

A federal report determined that for every $1 in tax revenue, the cost to taxpayers is $3.

Before the ink is dry, the Gambling Industry is prepared to re-negotiate terms and taxes.

The final resolution should be interesting.

Tax hike plan endangers casinos?
The president of Mystique says the governor's plan to boost taxes from 22% to 36% would threaten its survival.

Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed a tax hike for casinos -- a plan he says would return to taxation levels previously agreed upon by casino industry leaders.

In a budget proposal released last week, Branstad recommended a tax hike from 22 to 36 percent for the state's casinos.

Branstad told the TH editorial board Friday that he believes he can garner support among the state's Republican legislators because the 36 percent tax rate was part of the original deal made to allow land-based casinos.

"We're really going back to the original deal we had when I was governor before," he said.

"(The casinos) agreed to that 36 percent rate. Then later on, after I was out of office, it was challenged in the courts."

The challenge won in the Iowa Supreme Court, Branstad said, on the basis of the differing tax rates for riverboats versus land-based casinos.

From there, he said lobbyists were successful in convincing legislators to go with the lower tax rate for all casinos.