INDIANAPOLIS - With Indiana’s casinos facing growing competition from other states, lawmakers are likely this summer to study ways to give the state’s riverboats an edge.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) said lawmakers realize the state is at a seminal moment with its casinos. As gaming has increased in surrounding states, the question becomes whether Indiana should allow its existing casinos to keep pace with their competitors.
“The whole issue seems to revolve around the expansion of gaming and what do you interpret that to mean,” Long said.
Changes can mean a decrease in funds that come from casinos to local governments like the City of Evansville. In 2013, lawmakers enacted a tax break allowing casinos to deduct free-play coupons. That change led the city of Evansville to lose $750,000 in riverboat money in 2013 and a projected $600,000 annually going forward, City Controller Russell Lloyd said.
“From our end, the city would just like to see the revenue consistent,” Lloyd said. “We don’t want to see anything that would make revenue go down.”
Evansville dedicates the money the city receives from Tropicana to capital projects spending about $13 million in 2013 though some cities have had to use their dollars to support salaries. Any reductions may force the city to hold off on purchasing capital items, such as new police cars, street paving or tools for the city garage, Lloyd said.
As this year’s legislative session closed, Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, proposed a study committee to look at gaming. Legislative leaders will make a final decision on study committees this month, though Long said he supports the topic of gaming being assigned.
Long said an area the committee will explore is the diminishing revenue the state receives from riverboats, which is down 7 percent, or $20 million, from projections for the fiscal year. Though gaming tax collections have fallen, Tropicana consistently outperformed casinos in the state and a main out-of-state competitor Harrah’s casino in Metropolis, Ill.
One possible change the General Assembly has explored is allowing casinos to build on their footprint, or land they already own, which would open up Downtown Evansville for the LST 325, Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, said. The World War II ship’s contract with the city at Marina Pointe is up at the end of 2015. Board members responsible for overseeing the ship may look for a more accessible location, LST 325 Board Member Bob Hargrove has told the Courier & Press.
Becker, a member of the Senate Public Policy Committee that considers gaming legislation, said she supports the study.
“It is a fact of life that communities and the state rely on that revenue to fund a portion of government services, so I think we ought to look at it to see if there are ways to help the industry and help communities and help the state and decide whether or not doing so is a good public policy,” Becker said.
Alting, who chairs the Public Policy Committee, said operators of Indiana’s “racinos,” combined race tracks and casinos, have requested the ability to have live dealers, which would bring about 600 new jobs.
“We need to get proactive and start listening to the people who know the industry the most, which are the operators,” Alting said, “and getting opinions on what we can do within reason and within good public policy andmake them more competitive.”