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Casinos gain voter support |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
Voters across Ohio may have passed Issue 3 to allow casino gambling in the state, but in Auglaize County voters did not pass the initiative.
Of 14,578 ballots cast in the county, 7,601 or 52.14 percent were in opposition to Issue 3, while 6,977 or 47.86 percent were in favor of it, according to unofficial results from the Auglaize County Election Board.
Across the state, voters approved the issue with 1,663,149, or 52.97 percent, voting in favor and with 1,476,592, or 47.03 voting against it, according to unofficial results, making Ohio the 39th state to have casino gambling.
Legislators and developers have tried many times, yet always failed until now, to get casinos approved in Ohio. Voters have said “no” to casino-related ballot measures four times during the past 20 years. Voters most recently rejected a similar initiative a year ago, but the difference now is the economy.
In the past, proponents of casino gambling in Ohio waited a few years before coming back and resubmitting the issue, but with the state experiencing a revenue shortage some saw gambling as the answer, with money kept in the state for cities, counties and school districts.
Gov. Ted Strickland supported the issue as a way to increase jobs and tax revenue to offset recent job losses.
Last year’s opposition concentrated on moral issues, crime and family problems caused by gambling, while this year’s argument was all about the economy.
A list of organizations in support of gambling included the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, which cited 34,000 jobs to be gained. Ohio for Jobs and Growth Plan, an alternative name for the gambling initiative, claimed that $1 billion in revenue was lost by the state each year when Ohio voters carried their gambling dollars across state lines to West Virginia, Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
The passage of Issue 3 allows full casino operations in Ohio with construction of four casinos to be permitted, one each in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo.
Backers of Issue 3 cited an $11 billion economic impact during five years, $200 million for state job training, at least $1 billion mandated in new private investment for casino facilities, a 33 percent fixed tax levy of gross casino revenues, and revitalization of downtown centers.
Opponents claimed the amendment was an attempt to create a monopoly for out-of-state casino owners. They complained that it banned all other casino gambling including “casino nights” offered by churches and other charities, imposed a hidden tax by failing to limit how much taxpayers must spend on infrastructure, preempts most local and state laws (including zoning laws), through a loophole casinos would pay no taxes on profits from cash wagering, casino operators would pay 33 percent of gross profits in taxes and keep 67 percent for themselves, and Ohio would be forced to offer games approved by four neighboring states.
Wapakoneta City Schools Superintendent Keith Horner said officially school districts did not take a position on Issue 3, but he was in favor of it.
“We’re not expecting it to have a great financial impact as we are sharing it with a lot of other municipal agencies,” Horner said. “It’s expected to be distributed to districts in all 88 counties. I’m not sure how it would be distributed between more than 660 schools.”
He said personally he sees it as a form of entertainment that the state could benefit from financially.
Wapakoneta Area Economic Development Council (WAEDC) Executive Director Greg Myers said Issue 3 provides for an economic impact to stream back into each county, but personally he didn’t believe a constitutional amendment was needed to address gaming in Ohio.
“The legislature should develop a plan,” Myers said. “Fundamentally it talked about growing jobs, but the kind of jobs Ohio should be concerned with attracting are industry and technology, jobs of the future.”
Myers said rather than pushing for casinos to come into the state, he would like to see more of an emphasis put on new auto assembly plants and development of wind and alternative energy sources.
“I don’t put a lot of importance on the gaming industry,” Myers said. “It won’t bring any collateral jobs to Wapakoneta or Auglaize County.”
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 November 2009 )
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