TO BE SUBMITTED
TO BE SUBMITTED
TO BE SUBMITTED
and leave "to be negotiated" ??
Steve Perskie, former Chairman of the corrupt New Jersey Gam[bl]ing Commission said this:
Steve Perskie from NJ Gambling
Commission at May's [2012] Gambling Commission educational seminar:
"Let me make you a
promise. Your legislation requires that operators put up a $500m investment.
With that kind of money, you can be sure they're going to build an impressive
structure with restaurants, bars, nightclubs, shops. Make no mistake: the
delicatessan down the street is going to go out of business. The nightclub
around the corner is going to go out of business. Nothing the Mass. Casino
Commission can do is going to change that."
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar. "That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search?q=bridgeport+
Is this level of incompetence STUPIDITY or CORRUPTION?
Casino deal fuels retail fears
Tax agreement worries businesses
By Elaine Thompson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ethompson@telegram.com
ethompson@telegram.com
SHREWSBURY — Sean M. Flynn is concerned that some potential customers at his truck stop on Route 20 will travel to Taunton to buy gas, alcohol and cigarettes if the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is not required to charge taxes on those products once their casino and other businesses open.
The compact that Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed with the tribal leaders and that was approved by the Legislature says the state and tribe “agree to enter into separate, good-faith discussions for an intergovernmental agreement” which addresses this issue. The compact does require the tribe to pay the state 21.5 percent of its gross revenue.
Mr. Flynn said that in addition to the state possibly losing billions of dollars in taxes, individual businesses will lose money. While Taunton is quite a distance away, some of his truckers travel the busy Interstate 495 corridor, as well as locals who go to Cape Cod, Gillette Stadium and the Comcast Center, he said.
“It’s just general fairness. There should be a level playing field for everybody in the state. Everybody should pay the same taxes,” he said.
Some area legislators say the compact was rushed to get it done by July 31, the end of the Legislature’s formal session. In fear of not meeting that deadline, there was a rules suspension to prohibit any amendments to the compact, said state Rep. Matthew Beaton, R-Shrewsbury.
Mr. Beaton, who voted against the casino deal, said he has some reservations about whether a tax agreement will ever happen.
“It’s easy to say they’re going to address this down the road, but I don’t have faith that will actually happen. If it was on the books, I would feel a lot better about it,” he said.
Steve Ryan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store Association, and Vernon C. Johnson, vice president of operations for the Worcester-based Honey Farms corporation, say they are also concerned that the tax issues are going to be dealt with separately.
“The devil can always be in the details,” said Mr. Ryan, whose organization represents 1,000 of the 2,800 convenience stores in Massachusetts.
Mr. Johnson said all 36 Honey Farms stores sell cigarettes and 11 also sell gasoline. The state excise tax on a pack of cigarettes is $2.51 and 21 cents on a gallon of gasoline.
“We’re hoping that the separate agreement will require them to pay appropriate taxes. As retailers, all we’re asking is that we’re on a level playing field,” he said.
State Rep. Paul K. Frost, R-Auburn, supports the compact. He said it’s his understanding that anything sold at the casino and on the tribe’s land will be assessed the same sales and excise taxes that everyone else pays. How the state collects those taxes is what is still being negotiated, he said.
The compact that Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed with the tribal leaders and that was approved by the Legislature says the state and tribe “agree to enter into separate, good-faith discussions for an intergovernmental agreement” which addresses this issue. The compact does require the tribe to pay the state 21.5 percent of its gross revenue.
Mr. Flynn said that in addition to the state possibly losing billions of dollars in taxes, individual businesses will lose money. While Taunton is quite a distance away, some of his truckers travel the busy Interstate 495 corridor, as well as locals who go to Cape Cod, Gillette Stadium and the Comcast Center, he said.
“It’s just general fairness. There should be a level playing field for everybody in the state. Everybody should pay the same taxes,” he said.
Some area legislators say the compact was rushed to get it done by July 31, the end of the Legislature’s formal session. In fear of not meeting that deadline, there was a rules suspension to prohibit any amendments to the compact, said state Rep. Matthew Beaton, R-Shrewsbury.
Mr. Beaton, who voted against the casino deal, said he has some reservations about whether a tax agreement will ever happen.
“It’s easy to say they’re going to address this down the road, but I don’t have faith that will actually happen. If it was on the books, I would feel a lot better about it,” he said.
Steve Ryan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store Association, and Vernon C. Johnson, vice president of operations for the Worcester-based Honey Farms corporation, say they are also concerned that the tax issues are going to be dealt with separately.
“The devil can always be in the details,” said Mr. Ryan, whose organization represents 1,000 of the 2,800 convenience stores in Massachusetts.
Mr. Johnson said all 36 Honey Farms stores sell cigarettes and 11 also sell gasoline. The state excise tax on a pack of cigarettes is $2.51 and 21 cents on a gallon of gasoline.
“We’re hoping that the separate agreement will require them to pay appropriate taxes. As retailers, all we’re asking is that we’re on a level playing field,” he said.
State Rep. Paul K. Frost, R-Auburn, supports the compact. He said it’s his understanding that anything sold at the casino and on the tribe’s land will be assessed the same sales and excise taxes that everyone else pays. How the state collects those taxes is what is still being negotiated, he said.
[Maybe Rep. Frost should have asked questions before he endorsed a Compact. Ya think?]
But should the tribe be successful in its proposal to have the Taunton land put in a trust to become a federally recognized reservation, items sold there would not be subject to taxation, he said.
Mr. Beaton noted the agreement calls for the Wampanoags to pay the state 21.5 percent of the casino’s gross revenues, while non-Native American casinos will have to pay the state 25 percent.
State Rep. Steven Levy, R-Marlboro, said he opposed the compact and bringing casinos to the state because there was not enough discussion about the ramifications. He said the Taunton casino can’t open until the federal government allows it to be put in a trust. If this happens, the tribe becomes a sovereign nation and is then exempt from outside government interference.
Mr. Beaton said the tribe acquired federal recognition in 2007 in anticipation of casino development.
Mr. Beaton noted the agreement calls for the Wampanoags to pay the state 21.5 percent of the casino’s gross revenues, while non-Native American casinos will have to pay the state 25 percent.
State Rep. Steven Levy, R-Marlboro, said he opposed the compact and bringing casinos to the state because there was not enough discussion about the ramifications. He said the Taunton casino can’t open until the federal government allows it to be put in a trust. If this happens, the tribe becomes a sovereign nation and is then exempt from outside government interference.
Mr. Beaton said the tribe acquired federal recognition in 2007 in anticipation of casino development.
However, a 2009 Supreme Court ruling says that if a tribe was not recognized before 1934, they cannot have land go into a trust to allow them to become a sovereign nation.
“This will be tied up in court for years,” said Mr. Levy. “By agreeing to this compact it’s locking up any potential casino in that region until they get the land in trust,” said Mr. Levy. “There was just this mad rush to go get casinos and they didn’t think about these potential issues.”
Jason Lefferts, spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said the compact was designed to focus on gaming issues as a way to expand economic development and job creation throughout the state. The tax issues will be discussed later.
“Throughout the compact negotiation process one of Gov. Patrick’s priorities was creating an agreement with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe that preserves interests of the commonwealth, which includes maintaining a competitive balance with other businesses in Massachusetts. The compact calls for an additional agreement between the commonwealth and the tribe regarding taxes, and the administration will work with the tribe to create an agreement that maintains that competitive balance while respecting the sovereign rights of the tribe,” he said.
The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes that own the two casinos and reservations in Connecticut are required to collect state taxes on all retail purchases. New York has had a long-running battle to try to get federally recognized tribes to collect taxes on products sold to non-Native Americans.
James S. Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, said the issue has crippled the 7,700-convenience store industry. The biggest losses are from cigarettes and gasoline, on which New York has the highest tax rates in the country, he said. The state excise tax on a pack of cigarettes is $4.35. On top of that there is a combined 8 percent state and county sales tax for each pack, he noted.
Tax evasion has reached epidemic proportions in New York, he said in a telephone interview Friday.
“The concern raised by retailers in Massachusetts is a legitimate concern,” he said. “New York in the past when it entered into compacts with tribes to operate casinos made the mistake of not requiring them to collect all applicable state taxes on cigarettes and motor fuel they sell on casino property. Our experience in New York has shown it would be very detrimental to those businesses in Massachusetts.”
http://www.telegram.com/article/20120729/NEWS/107299895/1246
“This will be tied up in court for years,” said Mr. Levy. “By agreeing to this compact it’s locking up any potential casino in that region until they get the land in trust,” said Mr. Levy. “There was just this mad rush to go get casinos and they didn’t think about these potential issues.”
Jason Lefferts, spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said the compact was designed to focus on gaming issues as a way to expand economic development and job creation throughout the state. The tax issues will be discussed later.
“Throughout the compact negotiation process one of Gov. Patrick’s priorities was creating an agreement with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe that preserves interests of the commonwealth, which includes maintaining a competitive balance with other businesses in Massachusetts. The compact calls for an additional agreement between the commonwealth and the tribe regarding taxes, and the administration will work with the tribe to create an agreement that maintains that competitive balance while respecting the sovereign rights of the tribe,” he said.
The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes that own the two casinos and reservations in Connecticut are required to collect state taxes on all retail purchases. New York has had a long-running battle to try to get federally recognized tribes to collect taxes on products sold to non-Native Americans.
James S. Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, said the issue has crippled the 7,700-convenience store industry. The biggest losses are from cigarettes and gasoline, on which New York has the highest tax rates in the country, he said. The state excise tax on a pack of cigarettes is $4.35. On top of that there is a combined 8 percent state and county sales tax for each pack, he noted.
Tax evasion has reached epidemic proportions in New York, he said in a telephone interview Friday.
“The concern raised by retailers in Massachusetts is a legitimate concern,” he said. “New York in the past when it entered into compacts with tribes to operate casinos made the mistake of not requiring them to collect all applicable state taxes on cigarettes and motor fuel they sell on casino property. Our experience in New York has shown it would be very detrimental to those businesses in Massachusetts.”
http://www.telegram.com/article/20120729/NEWS/107299895/1246
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