| With
the state’s budget deficit possibly reaching as much
as $1.5 billion, State Senator Thomas J. Herlihy (R-8) has
told told a joint hearing of the Legislature’s Appropriations
Committee and Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee that
the state must renegotiate the slot machine contract /compact
with the two Native American tribes operating casinos in Connecticut.
According to Senator Herlihy, by doing so the state would
be maximizing a major source of revenue that could help stave
off tax increases and layoffs to state employees.
In his testimony Sen. Herlihy said, “Taxpayers
are not getting a fair cut of the casino gaming revenue
in Connecticut.” He pointed out the state gets only
a small percentage of the tens of billions of dollars produced
by the casinos. “Last year the slot machine deal delivered
$369 million in revenue to the state. Compare that with
the Division of Special Revenue’s report that shows
$1.54 billion was slid into slot machines in October alone.
This amounts to roughly $50 million per day or $2 million
per hour.”
According to Sen. Herlihy, while the payout
percentage on slots is substantial, that revenue is only
a piece of the casinos’ total revenue when you consider
hotel, restaurant, retail and special revenue as well. “If
slot machine revenues are estimated to be 65 percent of
a casino’s gross gaming revenue, our cut of the gaming
revenue is pathetic.”
Sen. Herlihy acknowledged that the contracts
cannot be renegotiated unilaterally, so the tribes would
have to agree to come back to the table. But, he said the
mere fact that the state is suffering financially and that
the current deal is not fair or reasonable may be enough
incentive for the tribes to cooperate. Senator Herlihy pointed
to examples of the tribes’ assistance to the state,
most recently the pledging $750,000 to help save the Greater
Hartford Open golf tournament.
In speaking with casino gaming experts, Sen. Herlihy said
that the future of casinos in the state is a very cloudy
picture. “From the impact of legislation repealing
Las Vegas Nights, to the issue of recognition of new tribes,
there are many issues and questions that are looming that
need to be answered. Yet on one thing is very clear, state
taxpayers are currently not getting a fair share of the
slot revenue,” said Sen. Herlihy. |
