Two articles from the Sun Chronicle that begin to ask some questions about the fallout from slots at Plainridge:
HAND: Plainville and Plainridge pursued the same finish line
Posted: Sunday, July 14, 2013
Plainridge Parking Lot
Plainridge built a $20 million parking garage, even though it was not assured of a slot machine license.BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
The Sun Chronicle
Both sides in the negotiations over bringing slot machines to Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville described their bargaining sessions as "tough" and "intense."
But, both Plainridge and town officials said they knew a deal would eventually get done.
There was too much at stake and both sides wanted an agreement too much to let the opportunity slip away.
So while officials in places such as Worcester and Boxboro have turned down offers from gambling outfits to set up shop in their communities, Plainville officials were looking for ways to make a deal work.
In fact, despite calling the negotiations difficult, both sides also called each other "partners."
These negotiations were nothing like peace talks between Israel and Palestine in which neither side is sure they actually want a deal.
They are more like the Patriots negotiating with Tom Brady on a new contract because both sides believe they need each other.
Plainridge is fighting for survival and has made no secret of its intention to close down its harness-racing track if it fails to get a slot-machine license.
The racetrack pays about $279,000 a year in taxes to the town, and Plainville, in the view of many officials, cannot afford to lose it.
Plainridge has already invested millions in trying to win a license.
After lobbying hard for state legislation authorizing gambling, it has built a $20 million parking garage and commissioned architectural schemes, hoping to beat out its rivals for the one available slots-parlor permit.
Plainville, with its tiny tax base and a lack of industry, badly wants the revenue and jobs the slot machines would generate. Some of the town's biggest taxpayers are utilities and apartment complexes, not industries.
Tellingly, not a single town official has publicly has questioned the wisdom of bringing expanded gambling to the town.
Complaints by opponents that gambling would hurt residential property values and create family hardships by turning some residents into problem gamblers have fallen on deaf ears.
Plainville has a $26 million budget and slot machines would pump an estimated $4 million in revenue into town government, an increase of 15 percent - a huge chunk of change by Plainville standards.
Town officials have visions of future schools, fire stations, and town offices being built without tax increases for borrowing while they restore services that have been cut over the years.
Selectman Rob Rose said he was trying to hold out for the town to receive 2 percent of Plainridge's revenue from slot machines, but finally settled on a flat fee of $2.7 million for five years and a 1.5 percent share for the next five.
In short, town officials and track representatives saw their interests as being largely the same, so striking a deal on slot machines was never in doubt.
JIM HAND covers politics for The Sun Chronicle. His commentaries appear in this space on Sundays. He can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/vip/opinion/columns/hand-plainville-and-plainridge-pursued-the-same-finish-line/article_e437b862-9c4c-5d5b-8817-06648726dada.html
Rolling snake eyes
Posted: Sunday, July 14, 2013 1:30 am
Updated: 11:06 am, Mon Jul 15, 2013.
BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
On the day selectmen reached an agreement to allow Plainridge Racecourse to expand into slot machine gambling, Ohio announced its gaming revenue was plunging.
The week before, Delaware began considering $8 million in aid to its gambling venues because income had taken such a dive.
The developments are indicative of what is happening to the gambling industry across the country, where a soft economy and intense competition is driving down profitability.
Stepping into this situation is Massachusetts, which intends to approve one slot-machine parlor in December and three full-fledged casinos in the following couple of years.
Still, some gaming experts contend there is still enough money to go around to make the Massachusetts facilities profitable.
Clyde Barrow, who studies the gambling industry at University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, said there is no question gambling has reached the saturation point in the mid-Atlantic states because of the proliferation of casinos and racinoes.
"There are now three full-fledged casinos in Delaware, three slot parlors in Maryland, 12 casinos in Atlantic City, 12 casinos in Pennsylvania and four casinos in West Virginia and a fifth seasonal facility," he said.
"New York has five Indian casinos and nine racetrack casinos. In the mid-Atlantic states and New England combined, the number of casinos has doubled in the last six years, alone."
Along with the saturation is the weak economy.
Barrow said his studies show that gambling spending is lower now than in 2006, before the Great Recession.
Discretionary spending on extras such as gambling is some of the last economic activities to return when a recession is over, he said.
David Schwartz of the Center for Gaming Research in Las Vegas said he also believes increased competition is the major reason for a decline in revenue at individual facilities.
He said that is especially true in more condensed geographic regions, such as the Eastern Seaboard.
The lingering impact of the recession has been cited as the major reason for the decline in the Midwest.
Whatever the reasons, the numbers are telling.
Gambling revenue declined 9.7 percent in June, compared with last year, in Illinois. Revenue from slot machines is down 1.9 percent in Pennsylvania.
Ohio casinos have been hit with a 4.9 percent decrease, while its slot machine-only facilities are down 3.6 percent.
Closer to home, the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in Connecticut are also losing customers to new facilities in New York.
In Delaware, slot-machine revenue has slumped by 16 percent this year and table games are down 18 percent. The decline in slot machines alone amounts to $47 million.
The Delaware losses have been attributed to competition across the state line in Maryland. In response, the casinos in Delaware have asked the state to lower its tax from 43.5 percent to 37 percent.
The governor has refused, but has instead offered the casinos $8 million in aid to help pay slot machine suppliers.
Reports of trouble in other states has led critics of gambling, such as Mary-Ann Greanier of Plainville, to question if the promised tax revenue from casinos will ever materialize in Massachusetts.
Barrow said he does not anticipate future Massachusetts gambling facilities will ask for a lowering of the taxes they pay.
Casinos will be taxed at 25 percent, while the single slot parlor will pay 40 percent of its revenue to the state. Plainridge has also agreed to pay $2.7 million in slot revenue to the town.
Barrow said the Massachusetts tax levels are at the industry average, so there is not much of an argument for lowering them.
"It is not excessively high, although what business in the world will not ask for a tax reduction if you open the door for them to do it?" he said.
Schwartz said he cannot anticipate what will happen in Massachusetts, but said taxes change all the time, so anything is possible.
Plainridge officials insist they are in a solid position to benefit from a slots license.
Bill Ryan, a spokesman for the harness track, said the casinos losing revenue are far away in a different market.
"If the Plainridge application is successful it will result in a new project in a new market," he said.
Schwartz and Barrow seem to agree.
Both men said the Massachusetts gambling facilities can be successful despite the competition because to a large degree they will be bringing Bay State gamblers back home to spend their money, instead of traveling to other states.
Barrow said Massachusetts has the advantage of being the populous state in New England, and it has a relatively low unemployment rate.
"Massachusetts is still in a position to dominate the New England gaming market, although once its gaming venues are fully operational, there will be significant pressure on the casinos in Connecticut, Maine, New York and Rhode Island to seek some type of relief from their state governments in order to compete more effectively against Massachusetts," he said.
JIM HAND can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/rolling-snake-eyes/article_6c6e9314-7e04-5d7a-a81f-1891ae032cb5.html
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