The casino economy is not what people think it is by Kathleen Madison
KATHLEEN MADISON Guest columnist
Like others, I was disturbed that developers are soliciting the Clinton County Commissioners to locate a casino here and are using a website and our Office of Economic Development to distribute skewed statistics.
Most of the articles on this casino, whether pro or con, assume that we would reap a large financial reward with a casino. But the rewards are not what people think.
Moral issues aside, a truthful look at a casino economy reveals a different picture, one carefully misrepresented by casino developers.
Start with jobs and income taxes. This casino proposes 3,000 to 5,000 jobs with a resort environment including a hotel, restaurants, shows, golf and gambling. (Sounds nice, but that many jobs? For perspective, the Argosy and Foxwood employ 2,000 each.)
The developers tout attractive average full-time wages of $35,000/year.
But wait ... how is this casino able to pay 50 percent more than what every other casino in America pays?
The U.S. Department of Labor says the average casino/resort wage with tips is about $24,000/year. Outside a few upper-level managers, accountants and computer programmers, the highest paid employees are gaming supervisors at around $41,000/year.
Dealers, runners, ticket takers, cashiers and slot key persons all make under $30,000/year.
By far, the largest group of employees work in food or hotel services.
They average less than $20,000/year.
If you work at the airpark or a manufacturing plant and think you'll do better at a casino, consider this.
Casinos operate 24 hours a day too, employee benefits are typically less generous than other industries, the stress level is much higher and very few of the jobs pay what the developers say.
When a community has good employment numbers like ours does, a casino won't change that.
But (and this is a critical point) the number of restaurants and retail stores actually decreases after a casino opens (so much for a Starbucks).
Why do businesses close? Because disposable income in the community decreases. It's gambled away into the hands of casino owners.
Even casino-mogul Donald Trump readily admits that area businesses suffer when casinos come to town.
Clinton County has been at full-employment for two decades. If our population stays constant, anyone from Clinton County working at the casino means a job lost from another business.
Most of our businesses are located within municipalities which have income taxes. Clinton County does not. The income taxes paid to these municipalities would go down.
And all businesses would continue to struggle to find qualified people.
Most of the casino's employees would come from other counties (do I see more buses?). But assume many of these people wanted to move to Clinton County.
If the water and sewer issues could be resolved, it would still take years to develop the housing for this lower to middle income group.
However, the reality is that in many casino towns, populations decrease as families move away and divorce rates double.
These changes occurred where the Foxwood and Mohegan Sun Casinos are located, the very casinos that developers Brad Pressman and Rick Lertzman like to use as "positive" examples for our county. (Guess which Connecticut county now has the highest rate of drunk driving arrests too?)
So where else does the "good stuff" come from, especially since the largest profits of all, those made by the owners, would not be taxable by our jurisdiction?
Gaming taxes are supposed to offset the burdens created by the casino on the local area.
We will need wider roads and increased traffic control, more police officers, more mental health counseling, larger jails and more court employees. Gaming taxes are set high because the costs are high.
I find it ironic that politicians recognize these costs while average casino supporters don't.
The proposed casino is promising to pay millions of dollars to every Ohio county.
This is a vote-buying maneuver, and a smart one at that.
We host the problems, other counties get the money. But where will that money come from?
It will be drained from a 50-mile radius of the casino, which includes Clinton, Fayette, Greene and Warren counties and large portions of others.
It's well-documented that casinos cost communities about $2 for every $1 received in gambling revenues (slightly more or less depending on the study).
Right now, our commissioners are being dazzled by millions of dollars of potential income.
But if someone took millions of dollars from your citizens, closed your favorite restaurants, made it more difficult for plants to find workers, and stressed your (larger) police force, would you be so in favor of a casino?
EDITOR'S NOTE - Kathleen Madison lives in Wilmington. She serves on the board of the Clinton County Port Authority, was past president of the Wilmington Clinton County Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of the Alliance for Economic Development. She has many years of economic development experience through Dayton Power and Light and Vectren Energy Delivery.
Reader Comments Posted: Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Article comment by:
Brian
Ms. Maddisons Numbers are very much aggerated not only is she Bias on this issue she is taking it personal and the News Journal dose not publish what the other side to post there stats. By the way Im against the Casinos but thats here nor there.
Posted: Friday, September 14, 2007
Article comment by:
Brian
I beg to Differ w/you What do you know what the majority of People think. People get paid more for harder work unlike casino work. Speak In the (I) Term you are not the Voice of the people.
Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2007
Article comment by:
W C Arehart
You are so correct Mrs. Madison. If the county fathers support it , see if they are relected.
Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2007
Article comment by:
Amy Rowsey
What a refreshingly honest and well-researched article. How easy it is to be lured by grandiose promises from promoters, and yet the facts of the effects of a casino economy on a community are so close. Thank you Kathleen for taking the time to gather the facts and present them so clearly.
Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2007
Article comment by:
Chuck Watts
Strong, responsible and empathetic leadership is what we crave in Clinton County, the kind exemplified by Kathleen Madison in today's article on casinos. Protection and empowerment is the dual purpose of progressive government. Thank you for promoting the protection of our common wealth, our Clinton County quality of life.
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