Who will get the jobs?
The vast majority of the jobs in the resort will be filled by Maine residents. Jobs will be advertised in Maine first and the resort will provide training through its own school and through courses offered at existing institutions of higher education.  Maine people will be trained in a wide range of careers including, accounting, security, hospitality, and gaming.

This is probably accurate, however the advertised claim of 10,000 new jobs is problematic.  Adding service type jobs in York County at a gambling casino might mean losing many other jobs across the County so the net result is far less than 10,000 new jobs.  Witness Atlantic City. The comparison to Foxwoods is inaccurate, since there literally was nothing there prior to the casino.

Clearly, the Indian tribes will not benefit from the jobs, since they live hundreds of miles north and east of the proposed site of the gambling casino.

How will the resort impact other Maine businesses?

The resort will spend $100 million a year buying goods and services from Maine companies every year. Employees of the resort will be paid another $130 million per year, which they in turn will spend buying goods and services in Maine. These amounts, when added to the $130 million that the resort will pay in taxes and the $50 to $100 million in profits that Maine Tribes (as owners of the resort) will receive and spend or reinvest in Maine, will materially improve conditions for other Maine businesses. And the $30 million per year that the resort will spend outside Maine on ads boosting Maine tourism (six times the amount currently being spent by the State), will substantially help Maine's tourism industry generally. The State of Connecticut recently released a report showing that Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun boosted tourism across the state. Carston, Fred, Lott, William and Mcmillen, Stan.  The Economic Impact of Connecticut's Travel and Tourism Industry, Storrs, CT:  Connecticut Center For Economic Analysis, May 2003)   Other reports show local hotel occupancy increasing from 40 to 80%. 

Projecting economic impact on the basis of an already biased study in favor of the casino is asking the impossible.  If Atlantic City’s projections had been fulfilled, then the terrible blight and slum conditions that exist today two blocks away from the Boardwalk and its brilliant casinos would have never happened.  I continue to return to the situation in Atlantic City because it is a real life situation much closer to the reality in York County than Ledyard in Connecticut. 

Ads attracting people to southern Maine to gamble mean little to the coast, to Kennebunk, to Portland, to Freeport, and points north, since the come on is to gamble. 

Will approval of this casino inevitably lead to the creation of more casinos?

The vote in November will authorize only one casino. Any additional casino would have to be authorized by the State legislature or a subsequent vote of the people.

It already has.  The Racino question on the ballot to permit gambling in another form at Bangor Raceway (or will they move across the river to Brewer in a stealth action which has taken Bangor leaders by surprise) reveals how the camel gets into the tent and keeps coming.

What will the resort look like?
The resort will be built in the style of the grand New England resorts of a hundred years ago. It will be surrounded by an 18-hole championship golf course. The resort will include a range of outstanding restaurants, shops, and conference facilities, plus a theater with top-of-the-line entertainment.

It will be beautiful.  Just as McDonalds can follow the rules in Freeport, the Casino people can build a beautiful building.

Will kids be able to gamble at the resort?
Absolutely not.  Former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court, Daniel Wathen has stated that the Act “unequivocally” prohibits minors from entering any place where gaming is occurring.

Judge Wathen’s response does not answer the question.  The question is “Will kids be able to gamble at the resort?”  The answer is YES they will.  They may not enter the main halls, but they will have their own areas where they will play gambling games.  This teaches them the casino is a place to go, and when they are old enough they can lose real money just like their parents.

Why are big companies like MBNA opposing the resort?

We cannot understand why anyone would want to prevent the creation of 10,000 good paying jobs in Maine. We can only conclude that companies like MBNA (who issues the credit cards for Harrah’s and other major casinos) oppose this project so they can continue to find people who will work for low wages and few or no benefits.

I am unable to answer for MBNA, but I suspect they oppose the project for the same reason others in Maine oppose it – it is a bad bet for the people of Maine.  The low paying, lack of benefit jobs decried at MBNA are probably no better or worse than the low paying lack of benefit jobs to be offered by the casino.

How many jobs will be created?
There will be 2,000 jobs during construction and nearly 5,000 permanent, full-time jobs in the resort itself. The full-time jobs will include a range of occupations from maintenance, restaurant, gaming, and housekeeping workers to computer, accounting, marketing, management, and administrative personnel. The average earnings will be in excess of $31,000 with comprehensive health benefits.

First of all, where are the advertised 10,000 new jobs?  With 2,000 construction and 5,000 casino workers we are missing 3,000 jobs. 

Then, the figure of $31,000 for an average salary plus health cannot mean that much for the service workers such as maintenance, restaurant, gaming and housekeeping personnel – these are the bulk of the workers in a casino.  The average can only be possible only if the bosses and the rest of the workers are paid much more.  Average is a statistical figure calculated by total wages divided by total workers.  Forgetting health benefits, using only wages, 7,000 workers times $31,000 equals an income of $217,000,000.  When you add the FICA and health benefit costs your total gets close to half a billion dollars.

Since no business can survive by bring able to pay wages alone, one can project the need to pay off capital costs, ongoing maintenance, some money for winners, profits to the Las Vegas backers as well as modest amounts to the State of Maine, the Town of Sanford and to the tribes it is obvious an annual income of more than $1,250,000,000 a year is necessary.  That is probably a low ball estimate.  Of course, that does not include meals and hotel income.

I conclude the $31,000 average is a deceptive number unrelated to what the real wages will be  for the majority of workers.

Who will build the resort?

The resort casino will be designed and built by Marnell Corrao, the leader in the hospitality industry. Marnell Corrao built the world famous Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. Marnell has entered into a project agreement with the Maine Building Trades that provides a hiring preference for Maine workers and ensures that any contractor, union or non-union can bid on the work so long as their employees are paid good wages and benefits, including health coverage.

Again, I can believe the building will be beautiful inside and out  -- state of the art.

Who will come to the resort?

85% of the revenue generated from this resort will come from out of state. Most of the visitors will come from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  The resort will have a 60,000 square foot convention center that will attract visitors from all over the country. On average, casino patrons are above average in income.

If we agree a low ball estimate of $1,250,000,000 (one billion two hundred and fifty million dollars) to be the annual revenue of the gambling casino, then that means every single day gamblers must lose $3,424,658.

If we are to assume 15% of the gamblers will come from Maine, in order to cover the daily average require to wager $1,250,000,000 means the people from Maine alone are expected to lose $513,698 every single day. 

And we are counting on 85% of the gamblers from out of state to lose $2,910,960 every single day. 

Are you able to convince yourself that Mainers would be willing to part with more than $500,000 every single day, day after day, for a whole year?  We complain about a $500 property tax increase!  Where are these people from Maine who are so anxious to tax themselves at the rate of half a million dollars a day? 

Finally, if the gamblers are so willing to come from New Hampshire and Massachusetts, what is to prevent both of those states from constructing their own casinos in order to capture the big bucks?  Would not the landscape of New England suddenly resemble the landscape of the west with its many failed casinos blotting the scenery.

How can I contribute to the cause?
We are not looking for financial contributions, but we do need your help. Talk to your friends and neighbors about why this proposal is so important. If you would like to volunteer in your local community, please e-mail us or call 888-421-2991. And, above all, make sure you get out and vote on November 4!

By all means VOTE, and use your common sense.  Good economics means good morality and so far nothing that we have seen demonstrates good economics for the State of Maine.

How will it affect area businesses?
The resort will help businesses throughout Maine by bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars from out-of-state customers. Local businesses will benefit by selling goods and services to the resort, its employees and guests.

In all honesty one has to say that some businesses will see a major increase: Pawn shops and ATMs will thrive and so will some gas stations and a few motels.  But the rest will experience what eastern Connecticut and Atlantic City experience, nothing positive.

Will the resort pay taxes?

Yes. In fact, the resort will be the largest taxpayer in Maine.  Instead of an income tax (which in Maine is a maximum of 8.93% of net profit, after deduction of all costs and expenses), the resort will pay 25% of the gross revenue from its slot machines, before the deduction of any costs or expenses. This is the same tax rate paid by the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut (which are the largest taxpayers in that state), and will produce an estimated $100 million a year in gaming tax revenue for the State of Maine.  (Klaus Robinson QED Hospitality Consulting, Proposed Maine Resort Casino:  Impact Study, Presentation to the Maine Gaming Study Task Force, September 30, 2002)

Getting down to taxes, the proposed gambling casino proudly proclaims it would expect to pay an estimated $100 million dollars in gaming tax revenue for the State of Maine – 25% of the gross revenue from the slot machines. 

BUT, the promised taxes fail to account for the fact that the 15% of the gamblers from Maine who are expected to wager $513,698 every single day have already lost in one year $187,496,485.  The promise of $100,000,000 in taxes is meaningless when compared to the Casino’s own numbers.  Maine still loses $87,496,485.  Where is the benefit to this? 

Will the resort increase gambling addiction?

Gambling addiction is a serious problem that demands real attention. According to a recent study by the Harvard Medical School 3.5% of Americans suffer from some form of gambling problems. The study finds, however, that there is no material link between the percentage of people with a gambling problem and proximity to a casino. The fact is that there are already plenty of opportunities for people with gambling problems to get into trouble. Our collective goal must be to help people meet this addiction. Maine is one of 14 states that does not even have a chapter of the National Council on Problem Gaming.  The proposed resort will help fund such a project and provide help for Maine people with gambling problems.

YES, the gambling casino will increase gambling addiction.  My experience As the Executive Director of the Methodist Action Program in Wilmington, Delaware when Atlantic City opened Resorts International can confirm gambling addiction increase when the opportunities for gambling increase.

This is a contentious issue that has finally gotten the attention of the gambling industry.  For years they denied it was true.  Now they are at least willing to admit there are problems.  They even provide some funds to help treat problem gamblers. 

Maine has its share of gambling opportunities: flat racing and harness racing, state sponsored lotteries, and other games of chance.  But nothing like what is being proposed in York County.  The very size of the operation and its anticipation of Mainers losing more than $500,000 a day requires us to consider very carefully the social costs of gambling addition.  Financial and social crises (as explored in the next question) cannot be swept under the rug. 

Will the resort cause more crime and bankruptcy?
No. The major recent government studies have found no link between casinos and crime or bankruptcy. (General Accounting Office, 2000. Impact of Gambling:  Economic Effects More Measurable than Social Effects, April 2000, p.2-3) Crime is largely a function of unemployment and poor economic conditions. Bankruptcy is largely a function of the availability of credit cards. (Link to recent News Paper ADD-RICH)  Crime has not materially increased in the towns around Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. There is no evidence of organized crime at or around either of the casinos in Connecticut.  In fact, the crime rates in the towns that surround Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are significantly lower then the crime rates in the retail areas in Maine, including, Kittery, Freeport and South Portland.  (Maine State Police and the Connecticut State Police, 2000)

To state categorically the gambling casino will not cause more crime and bankruptcy flies in the face of common sense, let alone other studies by the National Commission on Gambling.

Again, one must look beyond Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.  Atlantic City is a text book case of crime and bankruptcy related to casino gambling.  And with all of the attention focused on Atlantic City in the last fifteen years one would like to believe things have gotten better, but the same terrible conditions exist two blocks from the Boardwalk, as they did twenty years ago. 

To say crime has not materially increased in the towns around casinos in Connecticut is a disingenuous way of saying, “Well, we have had some increases in crime, but nothing we want to brag about.”

How will the resort impact housing and schools in York County?

 

The resort casino will mean more good jobs in the Sanford area. That will lead to stronger property values and increased revenue for local schools. A recent study by Charlie Colgan, the former State Economist found that there are 5,000 unemployed people in York County and another 17,000 people who commute further to work than they would like. In Sanford nearly one in every fourteen people is unemployed. (Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2003) The bulk of the jobs at the resort will be filled by people in these two categories, people who already have homes.  Charlie Colgan, forecasts that population in York County will increase by only one twentieth of one percent per year because of the presence of the casino.

Are the 5,000 people currently unemployed in York County ready to assume the 5,000 permanent, full-time jobs in the resort itself? The full-time jobs include a range of occupations from maintenance, restaurant, gaming, and housekeeping workers to computer, accounting, marketing, management, and administrative personnel. The gambling casino has 5,000 new jobs and the 5,000 unemployed are right there for the plucking.  No need to build more houses, schools.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The necessary new roads and utility construction, the social costs (that must be debated in the near future), and the clarification of who is really in charge of law enforcement should not be left to best guess estimates by proponents and opponents.  We need real facts before adopting such a sweeping gambling proposal.