From the Wall Street Journal:
Racetrack casinos used to contribute as much as $240 million a year to Delaware's tax coffers. But as the Northeast becomes saturated with gambling venues, the state's casino revenue has tumbled, prompting a new industry request—for a tax break.
"It's a different world for the Delaware casinos," said Democratic Gov. Jack Markell, who supports reducing the tax burden on casinos by $20 million a year to help them compete.
More casinos have opened in the Northeast over the past decade than in any other part of the country, and the expansion is causing upheaval in the region. States that adopted gambling earlier than their neighbors, such as Delaware, New Jersey and West Virginia, are watching dollars drain away, and new projects have some wondering how many facilities the area can support.
Twenty-six casinos have opened since 2004, fueling a 39% increase in total annual gambling revenue in the mid-Atlantic and New England, according to a study by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Within 100 miles of Philadelphia, there now are 24 casinos, a big shift from the early 1990s, when Atlantic City, N.J., enjoyed an East Coast monopoly. At least a dozen more gambling spots are in the pipeline from Massachusetts to Maryland, raising fears in states such as Rhode Island that their casino tax windfall is at risk.
Read More in Wall Street Journal
4 comments:
I haven't and won't buy a Lotto ticket or go to a casino. State sanctioned gambling is just plain wrong. Those who gamble are those who can afford to lose the least. I'm not surprised that, as competition for gambling dollars increases, the individual take goes down. The idea that a State could subsidize gambling is just preposterous. You're taking my tax dollars and doing WHAT???? Lets all get together to create jobs - gambling is a fool's game and is the result of the capitalists hollowing out America for their profit and our loss.
They are sucking the life force out of that region. The poor suckers who fall prey will always be at the bottom. Thank goodness we are holding the line here because we have many would-be victims waiting for the slaughter.
If you look at unemployment numbers the regions like Nevada and east gambling areas took the largest hits. I think Nevada was in the top 2 in unemployment.
Gambling is economic cannibalism. Good if you are the chief like Sheldon Adelson; he gets to watch the people eating each other from the safety of his thatched hut.
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