Recently, New York Auditor-General Thomas Di Napoli published a report that studied the economic impact of four licensed commercial casinos in the northern region. The report found that four gaming venues provided $176 million in non-tax gaming revenue to local governments between 2017 and 2022. 릴게임 However, only three small towns have seen significant financial benefits.
The four commercial casinos in upstate New York are Del Lago Resort and Casino in Tyre, Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady, Thompson’s Resort World Catskills, and Tioga Downs Casino in Nichols. Empire State will also issue three commercial game licenses for the northern part of the country, but this will be announced later in 2023.
Mr. DiNapoli pointed out that casinos were not an immediate solution to the financial difficulties, and that while casinos have generated a lot of tax revenue, the impact is different for communities that get those returns. He expects the report to provide state and local governments with a new perspective that can help host communities avoid false expectations of positive public expectations of casinos.
According to the report, all four casinos failed to meet their expected gross profit targets for 2020. Studies have shown that these revenue and tax contributions are still underperforming, though only 50% to 60% of expectations after three years. The inspector general noted that the only exception at the time was the south class’s Tioga Downs.
But despite failing to meet their goals, local governments still benefited from casinos. In three smaller host cities – Nichols, Tyre and Thompson – gambling revenue contributed 30% to 60% of total revenue, reducing property taxes. However, in the largest host cities of Shenectadi and the four host counties, the game tax accounted for 1-3% of total revenue.
While Mr DiNapoli noted that lockdowns at businesses in 2020 were a big factor in the revenue shortfall, the four casinos recorded total gaming revenue exceeding unprecedented levels in 2022. Nevertheless, changes to state gaming laws have allowed casinos to retain a larger share of their GGR, meaning this has not helped bring about a larger local game tax.
Meanwhile, Empire State is in the process of awarding the remaining three commercial game licenses allocated to upstate New York. In January of this year, the Game Location Facilities Committee launched an application request that allows it to hear offers from third-party companies that want to apply for one of the three available licenses.
Las Vegas Sands is one of the companies interested in joining the downstate casino environment in New York. And according to Wells Fargo analyst Daniel Politzer, the operator’s proposal to build billions of casino resorts in Nassau County is one of the most popular companies. He noted that this is due to the size and performance of the project and the ability to work well with the community.