Thank Steve Wynn's Arrogance and Ego for proving the OPPONENTS were right!
Steve Wynn is dictating TERMS!
REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL is the only sensible solution.
Please consider joining and supporting a grassroots movement to oppose Predatory Gambling!
Steve Wynn wants Wampanoags’ deal
Seeks to slice almost a third from casino tax
Seeks to slice almost a third from casino tax
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Vegas mogul Steve Wynn — still in competition for the sole Boston-area casino license — is already angling for a tax cut, telling the Gaming Commission in a memo obtained by the Herald he wants the 25 percent state tax on gambling revenue reduced by nearly a third to the rate the Wampanoags negotiated for their proposed casino.
The proposed change in the gambling law could cost the state more than $160 million a year — money the casinos would keep instead. A Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce estimate, frequently cited by state officials and casino developers, predicted at least $500 million a year in revenues on a 25 percent tax from three casinos statewide.
“A Wampanoag casino in Taunton would be a mere 40 miles from our proposed investment in Everett and a real alternative for our patrons,” the Wynn memo reads. “All (resort casinos) should operate pursuant to the same economic terms with the same tax applied to all operators of the same type of facility.”
The tax cut is one of a dozen wished-for changes in Wynn’s memo, which cites the deal Gov. Deval Patrick recently struck with the Mashpee Wampanoags — now seeking federal approval to build a resort casino in Taunton — that calls for the tribe to pay a maximum 17 percent tax. A Wynn spokesman declined to elaborate on the request, saying, “I think it stands for itself.”
Wynn has met privately with top Beacon Hill legislators such as House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Dempsey to push changes in the casino law that he and state officials have refused to specify. Dempsey did not return calls for comment yesterday. House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo told the Herald last month he’s “not inclined to make any changes” to the 2011 casino law.
Gaming Commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the board — which will decide if Wynn gets a license over Mohegan Sun’s Suffolk Downs plan — has not taken a position.
“The commission is still in the very beginning stages of their evaluation process and haven’t had a chance to assess every aspect of the applications yet,” Driscoll said.
The commission is putting its weight behind some proposed changes, however, voting yesterday to endorse changing a requirement that players pay a 5 percent withholding tax on any winning over $600. The commission is backing IRS guidelines, which set a $1,200 tax reporting threshold and allow players to deduct losses from their reported winnings. This is among Wynn’s proposals, but commission chairman Stephen Crosby said the board’s position is “certainly not for Steve Wynn.”
“Lots of people have written to us and just spoken to us and said this is just out of whack,” Crosby said.
Wynn’s memo also seeks to relieve casinos of having to provide on-site day care for employees’ children and treatment for substance abuse and compulsive gambling; and determining whether prizewinners owe past-due child support or taxes.
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/01/steve_wynn_wants_wampanoags_deal
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment