At the beginning of February, a new House Bill 1350 was presented by the Indiana State Representative Todd Huston. The Bill, then released for consideration, is aimed at making some changes to the state’s casino industry, and more specifically, in the tax rates.
As a result, a number of Indiana communities have opposed the changes proposed in the House Bill 1350, which would see some tax breaks being imposed to local casinos. A number of communities within the state of Indiana have protested the new gaming bill, especially in terms of the clause that would implement a 3% tax on gaming revenue to replace the current admission fee of $3.
A number of regional governments and local competent authorities have shared their concerns related to the new tax implementation, which would probably deteriorate the situation with the falling revenues of Indiana casinos. The trend has been going on for a few years now, but the tax changes could make things worse in the state.
For example, Indiana casinos account for approximately $50 million on an annual basis. Under the proposed tax changes, these revenues are most likely to be slashed by almost $18 million. Experts have calculated that by 2021, local governments in casino communities in the state of Indiana would lose a collective $6 million a year as a result of the tax amendments.
Currently, the state of Indiana has imposed a casino tax of 15% to 40% depending on the total gross gaming income generated by each gaming venue. The proposed changes seek to change the riverboat admissions tax to 3%. The opponents of the new House Bill 1350 say that it is unfair for the casinos to be charged $3 each time a customer enters their gaming floors, as they do not necessarily gamble in these premises. What is more, the 3% tax could result in discouraging casinos from adding more attractions to their gambling floors in order to become more competitive in terms of other gaming facilities offered in other states across the US.
So, in order to oppose that, Michigan City and the LaPorte County are joining forces to hire a lobbyist in order to oppose the new tax breaks for casinos that would lead to the above-mentioned revenues decline. The cost for such a lobbyist would be $8,000 a month, which means about $20,000 until the end of the state legislative session at the end of April.
The idea of LaPorte County and Michigan City is to split these costs in a joint action against the proposed changes.
- Author
Daniel Williams
