Ohio Casinos: A Possible Stream Of Revenue
- Filed under: Poker
- Date: Feb 25,2010
Building Ohio casinos has been a hot topic of late in the state, which is experiencing record numbers of unemployment and foreclosures due to the recession currently taking place in the United States. A strong financial motivation to establish a casino industry in Ohio is that its residents spend millions of dollars at gambling venues in the surrounding states of Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
While there is growing support for building casinos in Ohio, the issue has been a contentious one that state residents have voted on over the years, most recently in November 2009. After decades of rejecting the building of Ohio casinos, voters finally gave the okay to build casinos in 2009. While 53% of Ohio residents statewide voted in favor of the casino measure, only 29 out of 88 counties in Ohio actually supported the proposal to build casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo. This warrants a discussion of the commonly mentioned pros and cons of establishing a casino industry in Ohio.
A top reason given by proponents of building casinos in Ohio is that a gambling venue presence will lead to the creation of more jobs in the state. In early 2009, a study conducted by the Ohio Job and Growth Committee in fact indicated that building casinos in Ohio would lead to the adding of about twenty thousand jobs, $600 billion in revenues added by taxes that could plug holes in the states budget, and private investment totaling $1 billion. This does offer a strong financially-based argument in favor of establishing a casino industry in Ohio, a state with high unemployment figures and above average levels of foreclosures.
The supporters of building casinos in Ohio also cite the potentially positive impact that the casinos can have on the shops surrounding them. As an example, eateries and entertainment spots around the casinos can be patronized by casino customers looking for things to do and to eat in between going to casinos. Some may even turn their casino trips into mini getaways. In addition, new stores such as the types of souvenir shops that popped up in Atlantic City after casinos opened in that region can also be established with a casino presence in Ohio.
While building casinos in Ohio does have its group of supporters, those against casino construction in the state also is a sizable group of Ohio residents. These individuals are cynical about claims that casinos will positively impact Ohio's bottom line and add thousands of jobs to the state. They point to areas such as Detroit, Michigan, where gambling is legal.
Detroit is haunted by its weak housing market, high crime, and high unemployment figures. Not a whole lot has changed since casinos made their presence in the troubled city. They did indeed add a couple of thousand jobs to Detroit, and the city\’s bottom line was enhanced by an increase in tax revenues resulting from legalized gambling. However, most of the casino patrons actually live in Detroit and surrounding areas as opposed to other states and countries, and local businesses such as restaurants have mentioned that the casinos are actually taking business away from them.
Those against building casinos in Ohio also discuss how gambling addition can result from the building of casinos in low income areas, where there is a sizable group of people who gamble away the little money they have in the hopes of becoming rich. This can further negatively impact a depressed area, something that lawmakers would like to avoid.
Voters paved the way to build casinos in Ohio in November 2009 after years of voting the measure down. People who are for and against building the Ohio casinos are both vocal in the state. Proponents feel that the casinos will positively impact job growth and the bottom line of Ohio. Critics point to examples of cities where gambling is legal and where the overall economic and social states of the areas did not change much due to the presence of casino industries in them. Time will tell how the building of casinos in Ohio progresses.
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