Toledo
Blade...
Keep the game honest
Penn National Gaming feels unappreciated. All it wants to do is create
good jobs in Toledo and elsewhere to help Ohio’s ailing economy, but
Gov. John Kasich, other state officials, and the parent company of the
Columbus Dispatch won’t let them. At least, that’s what the gambling
company bets you’ll believe.
Governor Kasich made clear during last year’s campaign that he thought
Ohio got a raw deal from the constitutional amendment voters passed in
2009 giving Penn National and Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert a
gambling monopoly in the state and a 33 percent tax rate that is low by
industry standards. The governor hired experts to help write the rules
that will govern Ohio’s four casinos and help him maximize the state’s
cut.
Following Mr. Kasich’s lead, the budget approved by the Ohio House
would apply the state’s commercial activity tax of 26 cents on every
$100 of gross casino revenues before winnings are deducted. Casino
owners say that’s not fair because the tax rate they wrote into the
constitutional amendment defined “gross revenue” as wagers minus
payouts.
In Columbus, Penn National wants to keep its casino in Franklin
Township but hook up to city water and sewer services. City officials
and Dispatch Printing Co., which owns land near the casino site, want
the gambling company to keep the promise it made before the
constitutional vote to annex the site to Columbus. That fight will play
out in court.
Casino owners warn that any delay, official lack of cooperation, or
changes to the deal will force them to put off creating good
construction jobs and build smaller casinos that will hire fewer
Ohioans and provide less local tax revenue. Fortunately, that threat
hasn’t caused Mr. Kasich or Columbus city officials to back off.
The ballot plan that gave the two companies an exclusive right to
millions of dollars in profits from casinos in Toledo. Columbus,
Cleveland, and Cincinnati was not a good deal. Since both companies are
based out of state, much of the after-tax profit will leave Ohio.
Allowing the companies to define what Ohio can tax would be absurd.
State officials would be remiss if they didn’t work to improve Ohio’s
share of the profits.
The new casinos will not create many more jobs or much more tax revenue
than they will destroy in other parts of state and local economies. The
proposed closing of Raceway Park already has cut net job growth from
Hollywood Casino Toledo’s 1,200 permanent employees.
Many of the rest of the promised jobs and local taxes will be offset
when other local businesses close because they can’t compete with the
casino for consumers’ limited entertainment dollars.
Casinos are not the economic saviors voters were encouraged to expect.
Many casino jobs pay minimum wage or a bit better. Dealers, like
waitresses, depend on tips to make a living. The highest-paying jobs --
such as the general manager of the Toledo casino Penn National named
this week -- will be filled by experienced professionals from elsewhere.
Blinded by what they were told was a pot worth billions of dollars,
Ohio voters dealt themselves a hand stacked against them. Governor
Kasich, officials in Columbus, and interested private businesses are
just keeping the game honest.
Read it at the Toledo Blade
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