Taxes in Massachusetts

Declining Lottery revenues, town budget deficits, unfunded state projects, crumbling infrastructure and rising unemployment rates: these are but a sample of the factors confronting the Massachusetts economy in the face of a state budget deficit of $3.5 billion.

Our Commonwealth needs another revenue stream to rejuvenate and expand our economy – without raising taxes

The Massachusetts State Lottery is the most successful state lottery in the nation, generating sales of $4.5 billion a year - the highest per capita in the country. The lottery has passed its growth stage, however - annual growth in recent years has been just 1.8% compared to the national average of 6.9%, and continues to decline. Massachusetts needs to find a new revenue stream.

Casinos can help 

State treasuries share in gaming revenues through a gaming tax, and in non-gaming revenues through hotel, sales and excise taxes. In addition, state and local governments may collect property, income, hotel, payroll, and personal property taxes from entertainment complexes, as well as gaming licensing fees and income taxes from individual employees.

In New England the region’s two resort-style casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, grossed $3.15 billion in 2006. The revenues Massachusetts loses each year to Connecticut's entertainment complexes can no longer be ignored. In 2007, Connecticut and Rhode Island gaming facilities drew an estimated $1.1 billion from Massachusetts’s residents. Today, Massachusetts residents spend over $700 million a year at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, $93.1 million of which goes directly into the Connecticut state treasury.

Financial advisors for the Massachusetts Lottery stated:

“In effect, Massachusetts is exporting personal income to gaming facilities in our jurisdictions, and funding the budgets of neighboring states through gaming privilege taxes collected from Massachusetts income spent in these casinos and racinos.”

The people of Massachusetts like to gamble – A 2007 public opinion survey by pollster Tom Kiley found that 65% of Massachusetts voters polled would favor authorization of a resort casino in Massachusetts if they knew that it would generate hundreds of millions in new revenue for the state each year that could then be used to fund the priorities they care most about. Massachusetts needs resort-style entertainment complexes to remain competitive with our neighboring states and provide another revenue source for our cities and towns.

Read More:

Boston Chamber of Commerce: Casino Gaming in Massachusetts

This report was commissioned to examine the potential gross gaming revenues, new jobs created and the socioeconomic impacts associated with the legalization of casino gambling. The report found that a significant portion of Massachusetts casino revenues would come from recovering the money that MA residents currently spend at out-of-state casinos. A destination casino, especially one located in close proximity to Boston, would be a strong draw for patrons from outside the region as well while having smaller negative impacts on local non-casino business per dollar of revenue generated. The report estimates that three proposed casinos would create between 17,000 and 21,000 permanent jobs, with 10,000 to 11,500 construction jobs.
To read more of this report, and the expectations for casino impact on state revenues, click here.
To download this resource, click here.

UMass Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis: New England Casino Gaming

This is a New England patron origin and fiscal impact analysis for Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut; Twin River and Newport Grand in Rhode Island; and Hollywood Slots in Bangor, Maine. The purpose of the 2009 patron origin study is to determine the geographic origin, expenditure patterns, and other gaming behaviors of visitors to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut; Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut; Twin River in Lincoln, Rhode Island; Newport Grand Slots in Newport, Rhode Island, and Hollywood Slots in Bangor, Maine, including the percentage of casino and racino visitors who are residents of Massachusetts, In 2008, Massachusetts residents spent $709 million at gaming destinations in Connecticut, $210.8 million in Rhode Island, and $620,000 million in Maine. The study found that MA residents indirectly contributed $93.1 million to the Connecticut state treasury in 2008, and $117.4 million to the Rhode Island state treasury in 2008.
To read more, click here.
To download a full copy of this report, click here.