The bipartisan Gaming Study Committee of the Indiana General Assembly recently unanimously agreed that the state’s 10 permanently docked riverboat casinos should be allowed to move onto land near their current locations. Panel members said land-based gaming on adjacent property already owned or leased by the casinos will make them more competitive with new land-based casinos in neighboring states. The committee also endorsed tax incentives for casinos to build or rehabilitate facilities.
According to state figures, revenues from Indiana’s casinos and racinos declined more than 13 percent in 12 months.
Committee Chairman Tom Dermody said, “We have a situation where the casinos are struggling and we can either sit back and do nothing and watch them continue to decline, or try to help them, just like we would any other industry, become more competitive” He noted this move would not qualify for expanded gambling, a concern of Governor Mike Pence, since casinos would be limited to locating new buildings on their existing footprints, and only would be allowed to have the same number slots and table games as they had as of July 1.
Dermody’s committee also recommended extending the $5 million annual free play tax deduction through 2018 instead of 2016, to give the state more time to study the impact of free play promotions. Casinos can deduct taxes on free play vouchers; committee members noted that negatively affects the revenue stream to the state and local entities. Also, new casinos that recently have opened in Ohio do not pay taxes on free play promotions, which Indiana casino operators said puts them at a disadvantage.
In addition, panel members recommended permitting live dealers at the state’s two racinos at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Anderson and Indiana Grand Casino in Shelbyville; after two years, the racinos could request an increase the number of live games. Also, the committee recommended replacing the $3 per-person casino admissions tax with an unspecified alternative revenue source and better promoting the casino at the French Lick Resort.
State Senator Jim Arnold said these recommendations need to be enacted into law so the state’s casinos can better compete with those in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, and with a tribal casino that’s likely to open near South Bend. Arnold said that casino could offer bigger prizes and better player rewards since it would not be subject to Indiana gaming taxes. “I don’t want to say, ‘The Indians are coming, the Indians are coming.’ But they’re coming. We have to be prepared,” he said. The legislature will convene in January and consider the committee’s recommendations.
