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Bill Would Give Break to Indy Casinos

January 11, 2010

The chairman of the Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee says the panel will consider legislation that would allow riverboat casinos on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan to move inland in hopes of staving off new competition from neighboring states.

Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said last week that Indiana's casinos deserve to be protected because they are fairly clean and well-regulated, employ 16,000 people and bring in about $1.1billion in annual state and local tax revenue.

“It's a situation that calls for allowing these people to do things that they ought to be able to do to meet anticipated competition head-on,” Kenley said.

Inland sites in cities or counties where the riverboat casinos are located could draw more customers, he said. Ohio voters approved a ballot measure in November to allow one casino each in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.

An analysis by the Indiana Legislative Services Agency, the General Assembly's nonpartisan research arm, predicts three casinos in southeast Indiana that rely heavily on customers from the Cincinnati area would be hardest hit by the new competition.

The Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Sun, Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg and Belterra Casino near Vevay — all downstream from Cincinnati — could lose $260million in gambling revenues in the first year after the Ohio casinos open, the analysis said. That would amount to a $93million cut in the taxes they pay.

The report said Hoosier Park's casino in Anderson, about 25 miles northeast of Indianapolis, would lose gambling customers to a Toledo casino, costing the state another $9million. A new casino near Chicago is planned, as are more tribal casinos in Michigan, which now has more than 20 such gambling attractions.

And Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear wants to legalize either slot machines or casino-style gambling at racetracks throughout the state, although that idea faces strong opposition. Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, is drafting the bill Kenley's committee will consider.

He said it would allow riverboat casinos to move inland for a $50million fee, and they would no longer be required to have navigational systems.
One of two casinos on Lake Michigan in Gary could be moved to a major intersection of interstates in the city without paying a fee, because the other license would be returned to the Indiana Gaming Commission.

Some lawmakers also want to provide tax relief to casinos at Indiana's two pari-mutuel racetracks. The tracks are now required to pay a wagering tax on revenue that is not kept by the casino, but is set aside for their communities, the horse-racing industry and the French Lick casino in Orange County.

The Legislative Services Agency says that would mean a $26.5million loss in taxes to the state. Alting said because of the state's worsening fiscal condition, he would not include the proposed tax break in his bill.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has said he would not support an expansion of gambling or tax breaks to casinos. But he said he was open to the idea of relocating existing riverboat casinos to inland locations.