In the fall of 2009, Ohio's unemployment rate had peaked at 10.6 percent, homes were foreclosing at a record pace, and on Wall Street the stock market was plunging. So the pitch for casino gambling, something Ohio voters had repeatedly said no to in previous years, suddenly sounded pretty good.
Ohio?s airwaves were filled with millions of dollars worth of campaign ads promising that "Issue Three will create 19,000 construction jobs and 15,000 permanent jobs. That's 34,000 new jobs for Ohio"
But Tom Smith at the National Council of Churches, a longtime opponent of casino gambling, says gambling interests were so desperate to break in to the Ohio market that they overpromised. ?We knew they were never going to live up to those numbers," Smith said.
According to the most recent reports from casino developers, the number of direct construction jobs at the four casinos totals 9,091, about half of the 2009 estimate of 19,000. The 2009 estimate also included as many or more new jobs indirectly related to construction.
The most recent estimate for permanent casino jobs in Ohio stands at 6,629 - far fewer that the 15,000 promised in the campaign ads. But again, that estimate of 15,000 included new jobs that would be created at other businesses because of the casino.
The 2009 pro-casino estimates also projected casino tax revenues as high as $650 million. Those estimates are now much lower. Penn National Gaming spokesman Bob Tenenbaum says ?the gaming landscape in Ohio?has changed dramatically since 2009.?
"At the time those estimates were prepared, there was no proposal to allow Video Lottery Terminals at Ohio racetracks on the table, so obviously the estimates did not take into account any competition from racetracks VLT facilities,? Tenenbaum said.
Rock Ohio Caesars, developer for the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos has dropped its tax revenue projections from $385 million to $200 million. The estimate for Penn National Gaming's?Toledo casino has dropped from $102 million to $65 million. The Columbus tax revenue estimate of $163 million has not been revised. In total, the casinos have lowered their tax revenue estimates from $650 million?to $428 million.
Scioto Downs in Franklin County was the first of what may eventually be seven racinos to open in Ohio with video slots. The racetrack VLT?s are expected to generate $435 million a year in state tax revenue but will cut into the bottom line for each of the four casinos.
"Obviously, the better test of the true economic impact of the casinos will be actual revenues,? Tenenbaum said. ?The opening of the Columbus casino next week will bring additional clarity, and we will have an even better opportunity to gauge that impact once all four Ohio casinos are up and operating sometime next year."
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Source: http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/oct/02/2/fact-check-economic-impact-ohio-casinos-ar-1193131/
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