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The folks who run SunCruz Casinos have always been open to sharing gambling-boat boarding fee money with Horry County. As SunCruz President Robert Weisburg said in a letter to the editor Tuesday, SunCruz last year offered the county a cut of the boarding fees before the current legal unpleasantness over how much money the county can extract from the Little River floating casino.
SunCruz leaders understand their lucrative gambling operation requires the time and energy of county public safety people, while contributing to wear and tear on roads and other infrastructure in Little River. They want to help the county defray those costs. But they don't understand why Horry County Council is so intent on claiming 5 percent of the SunCruz boat's gross slot machine and gaming table revenue - even if it takes a long, costly legal battle to get it done.
Obviously, SunCruz leaders have not grasped the full extent of County Council's mania to create alternative revenue sources to the property tax. Council members for years have been intent on exempting local property owners from as much of the tax burden for growth and tourism as possible. They want newcomers and tourists - such as gambling boat patrons - to assume a greater share of that burden.
The 5 percent gambling boat earnings tax fits in beautifully with such thinking. As is not the case with the council's favorite prospective alternative revenue source, impact fees on developers, the county has clear authority to collect taxes on up to 5 percent of the gross earnings of the Little River casino boats. A 2005 S.C. law empowers coastal counties to regulate and tax gambling boats.
Horry County estimates the full 5 percent, applied to the earnings of SunCruz' Little River vessel and of competitor Diamond Casinos' vessel, could bring in as much as $2.5 million per year. According to County Administrator Danny Knight, a revenue stream that large could ensure that paid firefighters operate the Little River fire station, now operated in part by volunteers. Such a revenue stream could also beef up emergency medical and police services in the North Strand.
SunCruz last week lost its legal quest to keep the S.C. Department of Revenue from delving into its books to collect the earnings tax for Horry County. That clears the way for County Council to enact the tax next month.
But the company has deep pockets with which to finance its fight to reverse that ruling, and a separate court fight to overturn the 2005 law itself. Weisburg and other company principals obviously think the county will weary of legal expenses and settle for a share of the boarding fees.
They don't understand that for county officials, the gambling boats for years have seemed glistening cash cows they couldn't quite milk - until the state law took effect. Now that legislators have given them the necessary suction tools, they're determined to fill the county pail to the rim. It's hard to imagine them settling for less.
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