Thursday, September 24, 2009

Ohio Issue #3 - The Facts

Ohio Issue 3: What is it?

Sept 24, 2009: Issue #3 is a proposed Amendment to the Ohio Constitution that will permit the construction of a total of four (4) casinos, one each in the cities of Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo. These would be built at a pre-determined (already determined) location. (1)

There have been many claims on both sides of this issue, both in defense of and in opposition to this proposed amendment; and if you’ve been anywhere near a radio or TV lately, you’ve more than likely been exposed to these adverts. But as Detective Sgt. Joe Friday (as played by Jack Webb) once famously said:

“No, there’s one thing you left out.”
“What’s that?”
“The facts.”

So here are some facts.

First: The proposed amendment would create four first-class casinos in the State of Ohio. This is true, provided that the Gilbert Group (backing these proposed casinos) doesn’t back out of the project – as they did in a similar project in Kansas City.

Second: The casinos would create 34,000 Ohio jobs. This is misleading. First, it would create 34,000 jobs, but the source of this number makes no distinction between full-time jobs and part-time jobs. (2) What’s worse, that 34,000 jobs includes the 19,000 construction jobs which would be needed to build them. It only creates 15,000 permanent jobs. But let’s look at these jobs:

22% are food service or preparation. They pay $19,500.
20% are gaming dealers or slot key. They pay $21,700.
14% are machine servicers, cashiers or other gaming service. These pay $22,900

This accounts for a total of 56% of all jobs. Contrast this with the median household income in Columbus - $42,253.

Third: Under Issue #3 these casinos would be required to pay a 33% tax on all revenues generated. This is higher than most other businesses. (3) While factually accurate, this is also misleading. This amount, 33%, is below the average of casinos located outside of Atlantic City, Reno, or Las Vegas. And it is far below the average paid in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In fact, in Maryland, Penn National agreed to a 67% tax rate on its new casino. (4,5)

Fourth: Provide $200 million in state job training to put Ohioans back to work. But nowhere in the Amendment does it state that it would require the casino operators to hire Ohioans. In fact, there are already radio adverts in New Jersey and Las Vegas asking for licensed, qualified operators who would be willing to relocate to Ohio. And our cost-of-living is far less than Las Vegas, Reno … or Atlantic City. (6)

Fifth: It would require each initial licensed casino operator to pay a $50 million dollar fee to be used for training. In other words, $50 million per casino. Since there would be four casinos, this would generate $200 million total. (6) However, this $50 million fee is far less than a similar casino in Illinois, which is paying a $400 million fee per casino. In Massachusetts, state officials there may be asking a fee of $500 million for each of two casinos. Total - $1 billion. (4)

Lastly, the proponents (those in favour) of Issue #3 are stating that it will not affect “charity nights” at the casinos. This is just plain wrong. Gambling in the State of Ohio falls under the purview of and is governed by the Ohio Revised Code. Specifically, section 2915.02. More specifically, section 2915.02D(1)(b). (7)

Summary:

There can be no doubt that our great state, Ohio, is suffering along with the rest of our great Country in the midst of this economic downturn. Of that, there can be no doubt whatsoever. While technically any job is better than none, there are far too many things about Issue #3 that give me pause to allow me to vote for it.

However, this article is not about my personal opinion, it is about as Joe Friday said “The facts.” I believe in this instance that a clear open-minded evaluation of the facts will lead you to vote no on Issue #3.

SOURCES:

NOTE: Some of these links are direct links to .PDF files. I have nothing against .PDF files, but you will need a reader that can handle these files. The most popular is Adobe Acrobat, and can be downloaded or updated here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/ Where the link is to an actual .PDF file, there will be a red, bold asterisk (*) following the link.

1) http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/ballotboard/2009/3-text.pdf (*)
2) http://www2.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/article/Fact-Checking_the_Issue_3_Casino_TV_Ads_Will_Issue_3_Create_34000_Jobs/23637/
3) http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/ballotboard/2009/3-official_argument_for.pdf (*)
4) http://glasscityjungle.com/wordpress/?p=9058
5) http://www.truthpac.org/
6) http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/ballotboard/2009/3-final_language.pdf (*)
7) http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2915.02

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Greg,

I think you're doing an important job of trying to get the facts out so folks can make their own decisions come November, but there are few inaccuracies here.

As far as the proposed tax rate, 33% is the fourth highest in the nation for full-service casinos. To compare that number to the tax rate in Pennsylvania is like comparing apples to oranges. PA has the highest tax rate in the nation and it only applies to slot machines that are paid for by the state. Slot-only casinos don't cost a lot to operate, so their tax rates can be higher. The proposed tax rate for table gaming in PA is actually 12-21%. And the tax rate in Maryland is merely a proposed rate.

I appreciate that you're diligent about sourcing your information, so I'm including a link to the American Gaming Association's 2009 State of the States report, which details tax rates.

The 33% proposed tax rate is very competitive to local states with full-service casino operations, similar to the kind proposed in Ohio. Indiana's tax rate is an average 25% and Michigan's tax rate is 19%.

In regard to job creation, it's illogical to think that the casino operators would bring in all 34,000 workers from out of state. That's merely a claim that the TruthPAC has made. The majority of these jobs would go to Ohioans. For those jobs that are filled from out-of-staters, the acceptance of such a job would require a move to Ohio, which would ultimately make them Ohioans who, like everyone else, would contribute to the state via taxes. Either way, Ohio wins. And there are plenty of folks out there that need jobs at all pay rates.

When Ohioans were surveyed about what their ideal casino proposal would include, one major point was that they'd rather the casino developers spend a lot of money up-front to build the best casinos than high licensing fees. This is why the proposed amendment was structured the way it was. The casino group is putting up $1 billion dollars of their own private funds to build the four casinos in Ohio. That's more than any other proposal out there.

Lastly, there is nothing in the proposal that prevents "charity nights."

I hope I've clarified some of the facts you've stated here. I agree with you that the most important thing when it comes down to it is that the facts - the real facts - are out there so people can make educated decisions.

Unknown said...

Bravo Greg,

I say NO ( the way this one is written ).

I DO believe in Casino's in general and the economic boon they can bring but create a MONOPOLY FOREVER in 4 cities - JUST RIDICULOUS!!

IMHO Issue 3 should be as simple as:

Do you want to allow Casino's in Ohio? They will be overseen by a Governor appointed committee following maximum tax guidelines. Sites will be determined by economic need with full proposals being offered up by the counties in need. Tax proceeds to follow the current issue's guidelines which seem fair.

The FREE MARKET will take care of the rest.