As a political/business consultant, many have asked me if the proposed new casinos in Michigan will have a negative impact on Detroit. The casinos make the city of Detroit hundreds of millions of dollars every year, and a loss of any of this revenue could have a major impact on the cash-strapped city. I understand the concern in the metro area, since Detroit cannot afford to lose a dollar.
Michigan Is Yours has received state approval to explore options for up to seven new casinos in Michigan. The group is preparing petitions for different cities to see what the interest would be in developing properties into gambling establishments. Successful petitions would not automatically mean a casino would go up. It would only mean that the residents were accepting of the idea.
Proposed locations such as Lansing, Grand Rapids, Benton Harbor, and Saginaw would not have a noticeable impact on Detroit due to the distance. People visit the Detroit casinos because of their location. If fans are going down to Comerica Park to see the Tigers, they might stop in and play a few hours of blackjack after the final pitch. Others will go downtown simply for a run at the slots, and I am sure these people will not travel for over an hour (or three) to head to casinos out of town on a regular basis.
Michigan Is Yours has a proposal for placing another casino within the Detroit city limits. This would actually benefit the city due to the increased revenue. The increased competition might actually help gamblers, as the casinos work hard for your money. If the casinos are close enough to each other, people can casino-hop by cab or car and rotate the money around.
The worst scenarios for Detroit would be the proposed casinos in Romulus and Mount Clemens. A location in Romulus would pull westsiders away from downtown Detroit, while a Mount Clemens location could pull both eastsiders and gamblers from the northeastern suburbs. While the increased revenue might help out these other cities, the impact could be devastating on Detroit.
If the Detroit casinos lost 10 percent of their take, the city would lose 10 percent of the tax revenue. Where would the city make up this loss? Likely backdrops would be to raise tax rates or increase rates that the suburbs have to pay for the water that runs through the processing plant. Even the thought of lost revenue in the future would be something that would come to Gov. Snyder’s mind as he explores the option of an EFM for the city.
L. Vincent Poupard is a political/business consultant who specializes in helping businesses gain a foothold in their communities. He is also writer who spends as much free time as possible enjoying all that Michigan has to offer.