In a strongly worded statement the head of the PRHTA said “the lack of a serious and public evaluation of the proposal to legalise slots through public hearings, has led the legislative leaders and the Executive to propose many noble causes for the alleged funds that it would produce while ignoring the adverse fiscal impact that, according to a study by the government itself it would have.”
Torres referred to the latest proposal whereby additional revenue generated by legalisation would be used for a police retirement fund. “Our men and women of the police deserve a decent and safe withdrawal based on a source of reliable income and not on a bet on a measure that nobody has been able to see, evaluate, or validate in economic and fiscal terms.”
According to Torres, “all these noble causes are offered ignoring the multimillion-dollar losses that it would have on the coffers of the government and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), according to studies of the government itself. It would be taking money out of a place to use it elsewhere.”
Opponents of the new proposals quoted the findings of a study carried out by research company Spectrum which revealed that should 30,000 slot machines be permitted to operate legally then it would decrease casino revenue by between US$149m and US$195m a year. This would mean a loss for the University of Puerto Rico, the largest public university on the island, of US$35.4m per year while the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) would lose US$42.5 per year.
Casino revenue is a vital source of funding for the PRTC as well as the biggest state university on the island. Under present rules, casino revenue is divided equally between the operator and the state. 45.45% of gaming revenue goes the University of Puerto Rico, the largest public university on the island, 15.15% goes the Treasury, 25.8% to the PRTC and 13.6% to the Committee for the Development of the Tourism Industry. As well as taxes on gaming income, the government also taxes an additional 2% on hotel rooms when the hotel is attached to a casino.
Source: GMB / G3 Newswire
