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The Facts on Gaming
A casino doesn’t just redistribute existing money.
Gaming opponents sometimes contend that casinos do not generate net increases in tax revenue and economic activity, but instead merely redistribute money that would have been spent in other ways. In a study by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 203 community leaders from casino gaming communities roundly reject this claim. Two-thirds of the community leaders surveyed believe that casinos have, in fact, generated a net increase in tax revenue for their states and local communities, while just one in five believe that casinos simply redirect revenue that would have come in from other sources.1
In a 1997 study by Arthur Anderson on the Economic Impact of Casino Gaming2 in the United States, the gaming communities of Shreveport/Bossier City, Louisiana; Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi; and Joliet, Illinois were analyzed. This study found that casino gaming has had a significant positive economic impact in the three regions studied, a finding that is generally consistent with economic reports from other new casino jurisdictions. Among the findings common to all three jurisdictions were:
- Thousands of new jobs were created which provide good wages and full benefits.
- A high percentage of jobs are held by minorities and women.
- The hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues that casinos pay to cities and states each year are helping to lower taxes and pay for many basic civic needs. Bossier City’s property tax rates actually decreased.
- The introduction of casinos leads to growth in almost all other areas: retail sales, commercial and housing construction, restaurants, etc.
- The number of people on public assistance [welfare roles, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and unemployment] drops significantly. AFDC recipients dropped an average of 15 percent in all three communities.
Besides creating new jobs, casinos also become a large buyer of products and services from local vendors in a community. In the Shreveport/Bossier City area more than $50 million was spent locally by the three casinos in 1996 on food and beverages, utilities and other goods and services. The casinos in Biloxi/Gulfport spent a combined $90 million during the same time period.
In its first year of operation in 2001, the Belterra Resort in Switzerland County, Indiana, distributed almost $9 million in local taxes.3 Of that $1.1 million went to the public school system. And as an incentive to the community, the casino donated $1.2 million for an emergency service facility to build the Switzerland County Medical Center which houses the hospital, health department, dental office and nurse-managed care clinic.
Sources
- Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., Community Leader’s Perceptions, a 2005 white paper prepared for the American Gaming Association
- Arthur Anderson, Economic Impact of Casino Gaming in the United States, Volume 2: Micro Study (Washington, D.C.: American Gaming Assoc. May 1997).
- First Year Evaluation of Riverboat Licensee for Switzerland County, Indiana, Belterra Resort, prepared by the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, March 2002.
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