Philadelphia City Paper’s Blog “The Clog” runs down plans for casino legislation for the Philadelphia locations. None of it is Good. Its bad enough that we are selling Philadelphia to the casino and passing it off as development, but in addition we are doing it at bargain prices.
- The bill levies a tax of only 14% on table game revenues – compared with 55% for slot machines. A license to operate table games would cost only $16 million – despite studies presented to the House which suggested that such licenses might be worth more than $50 million. […]
- Although gambling has been billed as property tax relief, the bill pays money first into a state “rainy day” fund, which might not fill for several years. Only then would the revenues g(o) to [is] property tax relief. […]
- The bill contains a provision that would allow Foxwoods to extend its license beyond the deadline currently provided for in state law. Why would such a favor be extended to Foxwoods, which has been so far unable to get the financing to open up shop on the waterfront?
- The bill allows casinos to extend credit to patrons – a practice that was explicitly banned in Act 71, the original gaming law (passed in the middle of the night with no debate) that brought slots to Pennsylvania. The gaming industry has argued that credit lines are necessary to making table games work – why, then, does this bill allow the casinos to extend credit to slots players as well?
Casinos rot urban environments, not help them. The two planned Philadelphia casinos will have an even worse social impact due to the fact that casinos are supposed to only go to property tax relief. Meaning they affect Philadelphia which has a higher than average renters population and will benefit homeowners elsewhere in the state. In addition, a casino as a lender is legalized loan sharking.