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State/local gambling revenues drop - lesson for Ohio?
The money that state and local governments get from gambling operations dropped nearly 2.8 percent from fiscal year 2008 to 2009, the first time such revenues have dropped in more than three decades, a report released on Monday, Sept. 21, said.
The report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, N.Y., covers revenue from lotteries, casinos, video-lottery terminals and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing and dog tracks.
The report has a warning for states like Ohio that are anticipating revenue from gambling sources to pay a bigger chunk of the cost of education and other government services.
“Expenditures on education and other programs will generally grow more rapidly than gambling revenue over time,” Robert B. Ward, institute deputy director, said in a press release.
“Thus, new gambling operations that are intended to pay for normal increases in state general spending may add to, rather than ease, long-term budget imbalances.”
Ohio’s two-year budget calls for putting 17,500 video slot machines at the state’s seven horse racing tracks to raise $933 million over two years.
That plan may be put on hold, however, by an Ohio Supreme Court decision on Monday that said the gambling plan could be subject to a referendum in November 2010.
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By WAR
September 25, 2009 9:52 AM | Link to this
What a delemma. l would definitly like to see all that money that is being given to lnd., Penn, etc., coming to Ohio. But l have questions no one seems to want to answer. #1 ls it true that cantractors from out of this country have been given the job of building these casinos ? #2 What percentage of the profit will be given to Ohio for schools, streets, etc. #3 What percentage of the profit will actually go for schools and roads or will this actually go the the state of Ohio and a small percentage forwarded to Schools, Etc. #4 Does anyone KNOW for sure what lndiana’s schools are getting ?By Mike
September 22, 2009 12:18 AM | Link to this
Come on does this actually pass for news. The Rockefeller Institute of what. What do we do next start quoting Rush Limbaugh. Tell me how Taking in more revenue will add to the Budget Imbalance. That argument is so ludicrous,How could you even write the article.No one is saying that Casinos are going to be an answer to all of Ohio’s problems. All they are saying is the money that Ohioans are gambling at Casinos is leaving the state. Keep Ohioans money in Ohio. Put the Casinos hereBy JJ
September 21, 2009 6:58 PM | Link to this
Some folks are acting as if this casino thing is some kind of silver bullet that is going to cure everything. I remind them of the state lottery and what is was to do for schools-and there is a school levy on almost every election ballot.