A Business Case Against Slots in Tewksbury

I am 30 years old.  I pay close to $10k in annual property taxes.  I am a hard working young professional, who cares deeply about the community I live in – It’s the one I grew up in.  I invest $30,000 a year in home improvements.  I plan on sending my children to the same Tewksbury schools that I went to.  I am, in other words, an ideal citizen for the town of Tewksbury.  And I will heavily consider moving if this town passes a bill allowing a slots parlor into our community.   This is the sentiment I share with many of my peers.  Young, motivated members of our community who want to see our town flourish – fleeing due to years of town deterioration, lack of long-term vision/planning and compromising values.

The argument I have heard from pro-slots residents is pretty clear, and on the surface, it makes good sense.  “It will bring a lot of revenue to the town, which we desperately need.”  But, at what opportunity cost? 

Ethics aside.  This is purely a business decision – it’s simply a bad deal.  

According to the Fiscal Year 2012 Town Report, the town generates $68,000,000 in property tax revenue.  It is, by far, the largest revenue line item in the town’s budget, dwarfing the expected slots parlor revenue by 20X.  This single line item in the town budget funds the majority of expenditures in the municipality.  As such, every new proposal or project should always be looked at through the lens of how it will impact property values.  In this scenario, two factors impact values –

·      Appeal of the town - Families typically do not want to move to a town that hosts a casino or slot parlor.  Surveys by independent consultants have illustrated that most people would prefer to live in a community with a nuclear power plant than a casino. 

·      Income of the town’s residents – According to recent research, the average casino job pays $39,000 a year.  The average household income of Tewksbury families is $96,566.  Assuming that all households are dual-employed, the average job of Tewksbury residents is worth $48,283 a year.  Considering that, these new opportunities would be worth $9,283 less per year than the average available job.  This means, an influx of new residents who require housing with below average income.  What do you think that will do to the average home value?

Assuming a 5% property dip due to the new proposal, our town would lose $3,400,000 in annual property tax revenue.   This is already more than the promised new revenue and doesn’t even consider the loss of value to the homeowners themselves!  Again, a bad business deal.

Another way to illustrate this is to look at a similar situation – what happened to a Connecticut host town when a casino resort that promised huge tax revenues was introduced:

·      When overall crime rates in neighboring towns were down 10%, Ledyard’s  (host town to Foxwoods) crime rate increased 300%.

·      CT’s Dept of Transportation saw an over 200% increase in traffic on State Roads, while State Roads in Ledyard decreased.  So, that 200% increase flowed directly into Ledyard’s back roads.

·      Home values in a Foxwoods neighboring town, Preston, CT, are as much as 20% lower than similar homes not as close to the casino traffic. 

·      A recent report showed the financial impact for Preston homeowners at approximately $6,000,000.

So…As the developer sets up an office on Main Street, sponsors groups on social media, walks door-to-door canvassing your neighborhoods for support, dangles millions of dollars in revenue and hundreds of jobs, ask yourself…why?  Why are we being sold to?

Would a growing technology corporation, a biotech company, a professional services firm need to lobby and convince us that their business is well suited for our town? 

Looking at the trends in the gambling industry, ..the starry-eyed enticements seem quite cloudy.  Foxwoods’ slot machine revenues are down 12.3%, continuing a downward trend.  Mohegan Sun has gone through round after round of layoffs.  Penn National themselves state in their annual report; “Decreases in discretionary consumer spending brought about by weakened general economic conditions such as, but not limited to, high unemployment levels, higher income taxes, low levels of consumer confidence, weakness in the housing market and increased stock market volatility may negatively impact our revenues and operating cash flow.”  Are we willing to sell out and trade in our Town character for a promise of added revenue?  At the opportunity costs of our home values, increased law enforcement demands, more traffic and local infrastructure outlays? 

Twin River, the slot parlor in Rhode Island, was recently granted permission to expand into a full-fledged casino.  The Tewksbury proposal sets a slots parlor on 30 acres of land; Significantly more land than the other Massachusetts slot parlor proposals.  Should we anticipate the same expansion into a full Casino down the road?  Is that what we want, and is that who we are, or want to be? 

Personally speaking – I have no intention of being on the wrong side of this business deal and I certainly won’t raise a family in a town that would be willing to redefine our community in such a negative way.  

Please don’t force me to make that decision.