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If You Want Revenue, Check Out Slots

A recent report has shown that states that have slots do much better revenue wise than states that don’t. The additional money that comes in from the slots enables them to put money toward other causes such as education, than those states that do not. Without slots, they are more reliant on property and state taxes.

For example, Delaware and West Virginia both have slots – but Maryland does not. Last year, Marylanders gave those states more than $150 million to their slots – leaving their state with less revenue. If Maryland were to legalize slots, this amount would make up about 10% of the $1.5 billion shortfall that the state is currently facing.

The state report says that since so many of their residents are already playing the slots across the state line, they might as well legalize them and get the slots revenue for themselves. According to the report, the “tens of thousands of Marylanders are voting with their feet” referring of course to the fact that they go across state lines to play the slots.

The report went on to say that without slots they would not only be looking at a revenue shortfall, but they would also be looking at the possibility of losing the horse racing industry. The report said that without slots they would continue to be in “serious economic distress.”

They said that by not already legalizing the slots, they had already lost hundreds of millions of dollars in possible slots revenue that they cannot get back. However, they can continue to look forward to bring the slots in now. Those against the slots say that the numbers that were quoted had no real foundation, nor did they say where they would be placing the slots to get the most benefit from them – to get these numbers.

Back to August 2007 Archive.