$20 million casino tax breaks clear Indiana House

BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com

INDIANAPOLIS | The Indiana House voted 58-39 Wednesday to extend more than $20 million in tax breaks to the state's 13 casinos.

House Bill 1729, sponsored by Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, began as an attempt to aid scuffling "racino" gaming parlors at downstate horse tracks and assist Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City.

A provision added this week would allow all Indiana casinos to deduct some promotional coupons from state gaming taxes for the next four years. The break would be capped at $5 million in coupons per casino, and it only would apply to increased promotions offered next year, not the base level of customer vouchers redeemed this fiscal year, which ends in June.

Pelath initially pitched the casino relief just for Blue Chip, which has seen a more than 30 percent revenue drop since Four Winds Casino in nearby New Buffalo, Mich., opened in August 2007.

The race tracks in Anderson and Shelbyville each paid the state a $250 million licensing fee, which funded statewide property tax relief, for permission to install slot machines in 2007.

Supporters say the tracks are struggling to turn a profit after paying those fees. The legislation approved Wednesday would cut the graduated tax rates on racinos by 5 percentage points, saving them each about $10 million next year.

"These businesses are not going to go bankrupt over this amount of money," complained Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne. "Even if the ownership changes, these buildings will stay in place ... It'd be a shame if we spend our tax dollars on this."

Both the racino and casino tax breaks would ramp down over four years and expire in July 2013. The measure now moves to the Senate.