Casino profits could lead to lower taxes
Calling Baltimore’s new Horseshoe Casino a potential “anchor institution” of the city, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is defending her use of extra police officers to patrol the casino grounds.
According to the Baltimore Brew, the mayor said her plan to reduce property taxes hinges on the casino’s profitability and the cut of gaming revenues that will go into government coffers. “We work with our institutions, whether it’s the casino or the universities and colleges or hospitals, to develop effective policing strategies. And we will do that with Horseshoe as well. Its success is important.”
The police department originally planned that seven officers would staff the casino. That number has been more than doubled to 18 police to a “casino mini-district” around the facility. Three shifts of police are currently assigned to the casino district, the majority of them on overtime pay from the department’s general fund, the Brew reported.
The city has already paid more than $1 million for a fiber-optic infrastructure and cameras along the perimeter of the casino, with staff assigned to monitor the cameras 24 hours a day.
The mayor said a profitable casino could lead to “continued property tax reduction, the funds for school construction and recreation center plans.” The casino also contributes “community impact funds” from its slot win. But in the first two months of casino operations, those funds have not met the mayor’s projections.
