Casino news source: The Courier-Journal - http://www.courier-journal.com
Slot-machine bill amended to aid casino
New French Lick Resort would get a tax break
By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener and Grace Schneider
The Courier-Journal
INDIANAPOLIS — The new casino at French Lick would receive a major tax break under an amendment to a bill that authorizes slot machines for Indiana's racetracks.
The provision, which the House approved on a voice vote Thursday night, essentially frees the French Lick Resort Casino from paying a $4-per-person admissions tax for five years, beginning June 30.
Rep. Jerry Denbo, D-French Lick, said the amendment is meant to protect the new casino in case the tracks install slot machines, which are expected to drain business from French Lick.
The tax break was added to House Bill 1835, which passed the House yesterday and now goes to the Senate.
The French Lick casino, the state's smallest, now draws more than 25 percent of its patrons from the Indianapolis area. Those visitors wouldn't bother to travel to Orange County if the two racetracks closer to home had slots, said Mark Bommarito, French Lick's vice president for marketing and sales.
The financial impact would be devastating, cutting off any profit the casino makes now and possibly putting the venture below the break-even mark, Bommarito said.
"We'd be turned upside down," he said.
Ernie Yelton, the Indiana Gaming Commission's executive director, supported that position in recent testimony.
He told legislators that the French Lick property would likely suffer the most harm of any of the state's 11 casinos if the tracks installed up to 2,500 slot machines each because the tracks would draw primarily from a key source of customers for French Lick.
Under the amended bill, the French Lick casino would still pay admissions taxes, which are distributed to local governments and the state for economic development in the region. But that amount would be credited against the casino's wagering tax obligation.
The casino's wagering tax revenue goes to the state's property-tax-relief account, a fund to help maintain the historic hotels that are part of the casino project, and to the local Historic Hotel Preservation Commission. Local governments also get some money.
From its opening in late October through Jan. 31, the casino has paid nearly $5.6 million in taxes -- more than $1.6 million in admissions taxes and nearly $4 million in wagering taxes, according to the gaming commission.
Had this provision been in place, the casino would have saved $1.6 million. Denbo said that kind of savings can significantly help a fledgling business.
He said $450 million has been put into the casino project, which includes renovations of two historic hotels. Some of that work is ongoing, and Denbo said every dollar will help.
The tax break would go into effect even before the slots were in place. That's in part because the casino "could use the help at any time," Denbo acknowledged.
"We're just trying to help them out in the early stages here," he said yesterday. "This is a major economic development program for the state, and we have the opportunity to help them."
Reporter Lesley Stedman Weidenbener can be reached at (317) 444-2780.
Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at (812) 949-4040. |
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