thegreenmiles
| Sat, Aug 17, 2013 7:12 AM EST
As Massachusetts keeps pursuing casinos as a magic salve for neglected areas, officials keep ignoring that America’s casino explosion has made each new casino far less profitable. Take Pennsylvania:
Nine of the 11 Pennsylvania casinos posted slots revenue declines in July, leading to a 3.7 percent overall decrease. [...]Sure, casinos make crushingly poor & crime-ridden areas (like, say, Springfield or New Bedford) even more crushingly poor & crime-ridden. But there must be huge benefits, right? So what are the benefits in Pennsylvania?
“Harrah’s Philadelphia’s decline was surprising, given the size of the decline and the large increase in promotional free play,” [gambling analyst John] Kempf said. The casino, one of four in the Philadelphia area, has declined in slots revenue 11 months in a row, he said, and 17 of the last 19 months.
- The gambling industry pockets 86 percent of table revenue and more than half of slots revenue.
- Homeowners received an average tax cut of 55 cents per day. Keep in mind that’s average, so mansion owners are getting a lot more and 2-bedroom homeowners are getting much less.
- The revenue has funded an increase in eligibility & small increase in benefit for a property tax & rent rebate program for seniors & the disabled.
Meanwhile here in Massachusetts, it’s being reported that gambling interests spent “only” $2 million in the first six months of 2013 on lobbying and getting a casino referendum passed in Springfield. Why, they’re practically giving up!
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