As state legislators look at various ways to help its casino industry stem revenue losses caused by increased competition in neighboring states, more area communities may be asking them to take elimination of the admission tax off the list.
The state currently charges casinos a $3 admission tax for everyone who enters one of the state’s 11 casino boats, every time they enter or re-enter, even if they aren’t gambling.
Lake County and its communities have had a share of some of the money generated from that tax, using it to make much neede infrastructure improvements, such as street paving and sidewalk repair, that would otherwise come out of their other budget funds.
Hobart’s City Council last week adopted a resolution stating its opposition to the consideration or passage of any legislation that would reduce the admission taxes received by Lake County and its communities.
Legislators have heard from Indiana Association of Cities and Towns on the issue, according to one state representative, and Highland Clerk-treasurer Michel Griffin expects Hobart’s resolution to come before the 16-Plus group at its Oct. 24 meeting. The group consists of the communities in Lake County without a casino who share 25 percent of the county’s revenue from the admission tax, based on population.
Highland and Hobart each receive about $350,000 a year from the tax.
“Paving has been a zero line item for the past six years. Without the tax, the paving wouldn’t have gotten done,” Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor said during last week’s City Council meeting.
Griffin said the communities in the 16-Plus group could either decide on their own whether they want to adopt a resolution, or in a more unusual step, it could decide as a group to send a resolution to the Legislature. He said the latter option could happen since the group was formed as a result of the admission tax revenue.
State Rep. Tom Dermody, R-LaPorte, who heads the Legislature’s public policy committee, said the committee is looking at different ways and new ideas to help the casino industry, which has seen its revenues spiraling downward in the last several years.
He said there could be reform, if not elimination, of the current admission tax, for instance.
“How silly it is to charge for a customer every time they go in and out of the casino every day,” Dermody said. “They could walk in and out of a casino four or five times a day.”
He said hopefully casinos can get to the point where their revenues turn around, but in the meantime the state needs some real resolutions,
“No one wants to hurt the local communities, but they’re already experiencing a loss of revenue (due to the casinos’ drop in gamers),” Dermody said.
Hobart Clerk-Treasurer Deborah Longer said the city was getting as much as $550,000 during the casinos’ more lucrative days when there was less competition.
Dermody said there are a lot of options and his committee will listen to both the casino industry and community leaders. He said providing casinos incentives for construction projects and to add amenities is one option.
Casino operators in Northwest Indiana blame their revenue drops on increased competition from new casinos in surrounding states, some of which they say pay little or no taxes, and the video gaming terminals in bars and other outlets in Illinois, which have particularly hurt the area’s lucrative slot business.
Some casino operators have asked the Legislature’s public policy committee to consider such steps as eliminating the admission tax and reducing the state’s wagering tax, which now ranges from 40 percent to 15 percent, depending on annual revenue. Others want to see land-based casinos.
“We are always concerned about any potential legislation that can have an impact on our business. With that being said, it is critically important for existing casinos such as ours to be able to operate in a stable business environment with favorable regulations that allow us to not only compete, but also continue to grow our business.” Matt Schuffert, vice president and general manager of Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, said.
Dermody said he won’t know until January if the Legislature will be receptive to changes sought by the industry.
“But legislators seem interested in listening,” he said.
He said the casino industry used to employ about 16,000 people statewide. That number has dropped to around 13,000, he said.