Youngblood Blasts Casino License Transfer

State Rep. Rosita Youngblood ... Phila. must not be looted of its second casino license.

State Rep. Rosita C. Youngblood (D-Northwest), Democratic chair of the House Gaming Oversight Committee, decried the House passage of a bill that removes the stipulation that Philadelphia receive two casino licenses, saying this undermines a key provision in the State’s 2004 law that established gaming.

If the Senate also moves to pass HB 65, she charges, Philadelphia stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in construction spending and local-share revenue as well as several thousand family-sustaining jobs from the casino and related industries.

“When the gaming law was initially crafted, in a long and deliberative process, it was decided that Philadelphia was a logical place to award two casino licenses,” said Youngblood. “HB 65 changes the rules in mid-stream, by revoking one of those licenses and putting it up for auction, so it can be moved anywhere in the Commonwealth. This clearly was not the intent when this law was passed in 2004.”

CITY MAY LOSE BIG TAX DOLLARS

“The economy of Philadelphia and its surrounding counties will suffer tremendously if this attempted license pilfering succeeds,” said Youngblood, who called upon her colleagues in the State Senate to block the measure when it comes before them. “We should not open the door for other areas of the state to swoop in and fly away with a casino license that was originally promised to someone else.”

Philadelphia taxpayers  will also lose 35% of its allocated gaming revenue for property-tax relief, Youngblood said.

Current law requires Philadelphia to provide wage-tax relief, rather than property-tax relief, with its gaming revenues. This means people who work in Philadelphia but live in suburban counties receive a cut of the money that is meant to stay within the city’s borders. “Of the $346 million that is generated for Philadelphia through gaming, more than $122 million has been distributed to nonresidents of Philadelphia through suburban wage tax reductions,” Youngblood said. “And on top of that, those who work in Philadelphia but live outside the city also get property tax relief from their home county. Something just doesn’t add up here.

“If members of the General Assembly are eager to strip the city of its second license, and reduce the funding it can receive from hosting another casino, then we need to reassess the fact that more than $122 million has been bled out of Philadelphia and into surrounding counties.”

Youngblood said she will introduce legislation to change state law that requires the City to provide wage-tax relief and finally bring Philadelphia’s taxpayers to the same playing field as all other taxpayers across the Commonwealth.

“With the Mayor’s proposed ‘Actual Value Initiative,’ and the recent statements by city officials that the schools need more than $90 million right away in order for our public schools to open this fall, now is the time to reevaluate how gaming funding is applied in Philadelphia,” Youngblood said. “If the City’s officials are saying the sky will fall if the AVI is not implemented, then we need to find ways to soften the blow for our residents. One way we can reduce the burden is to finally start providing property-tax relief with the revenues we receive from gaming, and stop letting more than a third of that funding seep out into the suburbs.”

Youngblood said while her many efforts to provide solutions to keep the second casino in Philadelphia were rebuffed by a majority of House members, she succeeded in amending HB 65 so that all money raised by any auction of the casino license would go into the Property Tax Relief Fund. Youngblood said she was also able to secure an additional 2% from table-games revenue that will go toward tax relief.

She said it is imperative that Philadelphians see the relief that others across the state are seeing. “When I talk to citizens across my district, and throughout the city of Philadelphia, they seem confused as to how their taxes are impacted by gaming,” Youngblood said. “When I tell them it’s because we are the only County that does not provide property-tax relief from the proceeds, they are rightfully unhappy. If the Mayor is forcing the City to go to full property assessment, it is essential we use the funding we have, and get back the funding we should have, to help our property taxpayers.

“With the loss of the second casino on the horizon, it is even more important that we keep all of the funding that we are allocated in Philadelphia.”

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