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Ohio voters have rejected casino gambling in the past. They should do so again, keeping in mind its false promise
Published on Friday, Oct 10, 2008
We strongly recommend a ''no'' vote on Issue 6 on Nov. 4.
In 1996, supporters of a casino petition drive abandoned their efforts, vowing to return in tougher economic times, pitching a casino resort as a job-development plan and a reliable source of tax revenue. Now they are back, championed by Lakes Entertainment, a Minnesota-based casino operator. The MyOhioNow committee is spending millions on television ads pledging the creation of 5,000 jobs and tax revenues of more than $200 million to be distributed among Ohio counties based on population.
Mind you, none of the money is guaranteed by the amendment, which would grant Lakes Entertainment what amounts to a monopoly license, the profits flowing out of state. In terms of economic impact, the casino would produce a net loss. Even if 5,000 jobs were created in a casino complex with a hotel, restaurants, golf course and theater, most would be low-wage, dead-end service jobs. More, studies of gambling have shown that for every $1 in economic benefits, there are roughly $3 in costs, most notably in the form of families ruined at the gaming tables.
Neither is a 30 percent tax on gross casino receipts, generating $240 million a year, a sure thing. The amendment calls for enactment of a tax of ''up to'' 30 percent. A good bet is, Lakes Entertainment will lobby for a lower rate. Gambling in the Midwest also could hit a saturation point, revenues declining.
Neither are gambling revenues big enough to solve local government needs. MyOhioNow projects Cuyahoga County, the state's largest, would get $26 million a year. Sounds great, but the county is projecting annual budget shortfalls of more than $65 million by 2010. Worse, passage would likely convince Cuyahoga County voters they had solved the crisis, just as passage of the Ohio Lottery wrongly convinced voters school funding had been fixed.
The other loophole in the amendment is created by language that any tax on the Wilmington-area casino cannot exceed the tax paid by another gambling facility in Ohio. How is that a loophole? Approval of casino-style gambling would open the door to an Indian casino, something eyed by the Eastern Shawnee. Under federal law, such an Indian casino could not be subject to any state or local taxes. Thus, the 30 percent rate could fall to zero.
Issue 6 is a dangerous distraction at a time of economic turmoil. Voters should reject this latest gambling scheme and shift their attention to making long-term investments in education and infrastructure that promise true improvement for Ohio.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 10:02 AM, 10/10/2008
The editorial board of the ABJ is, as the cool kids would say... "un-freaking believable".
Let's look at just one portion of their flawed logic that brings them to "strongly recommend a NO vote" on Issue 6.
According to the editorial...
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MyOhioNow projects Cuyahoga County, the state's largest, would get $26 million a year. Sounds great, but the county is projecting annual budget shortfalls of more than $65 million by 2010
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OK ABJ, if the budget shortfall is $65 million and someone is offering $26 million to help offset it, how is rejecting this opportunity to cover 40% of the shortfall a bad thing?
With logic like yours, if all of the ABJ staffers rejected your buyout offer, then you should just keep them all on staff at their full rate of pay and take the attitude of "full steam ahead" with your business!
I can't wait for your next election recommendation when you try to convince voters that the "Stools for Schools" scheme is wonderful!
Posted 01:35 PM, 10/16/2008
I don't understand it either. It's almost like there either part of the roundtable that opposes gaming or they have problem gamblers in their friends/family circles. How is a casino any different than a bar? I'll take service jobs over no jobs. They talk about table games ruin families. Slots do more damage per person than any Blackjack table ever could. That's another issue. I'm voting for 6 and alot of friends and family are too.
Grand Terrace, CA
Posted 02:26 PM, 10/31/2008
Most of the people who are trying to get you to vote No on this keep citing one main reason. The fact that he could end up paying not taxes. That is not true. They state that an Indian casino could open and have to pay no tax so then he wouldn't have to pay any. The fact is that no Indian Casino will ever open in the state of Ohio and here is why.
Kevin Quigley, an attorney of the law firm Hamilton, Quigley and Twait, specializes in Indian gaming law. Mr. Quigley has compiled a list of five areas on why Indian casinos will not be allowed in Ohio.
1. There are no federally recognized tribes located in Ohio.
2. Any tribe wanting to establish a gaming facility in Ohio (a) would first have to get the federal government to approve its acquisition for trust land in Ohio, and (b) the government has just announced new land policies that make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get such gaming lands approved.
3. No tribe has ever been approved for new off-reservation gaming lands outside the state where it is located.
4. The process for approving gaming lands is very complicated and time consuming, often taking 5 years or more.
5. Even if the federal government were to ever approve a gaming land application in Ohio many years down the road, the tribe (a) could not begin to conduct any gaming on the land unless and until the Governor first agreed to the trust land acquisition, and (b) could not conduct high stakes Vegas style gaming on the land until the Governor also has negotiated and agreed to sign a compact agreement permitting such gaming.