THE MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION sounded unenthusiastic about gambling in southeastern Massachusetts on Wednesday, with the chairman lamenting a Brockton casino proposal’s lack of “wow factor” and other commissioners raising concerns about what might or might not materialize at a Native American gambling facility in Taunton.
On the second day of hearings in Brockton, commission chairman Stephen Crosby said he was disappointed the amenities being offered at the proposed Brockton casino don’t mirror what the developer is offering at its other four facilities around the country.
“The approach of the applicant seemed to be: ‘We will do good things. Just trust us,’” Crosby said. “This proposal has virtually none of those features. It sits in the middle of a vast parking lot, completely isolated from any other operating part of the community, with no links or coherent strategies for broader urban renewal or economic development. In this respect, it is a great disappointment.”
Crosby also lamented the company’s failure to highlight Brockton’s boxing history and its nickname “City of Champions,” as well as its place as a leading shoe manufacturing region. He called the Brockton project nothing more than “a nice convenience casino” because it fails to reach outward to the community. He noted, for example, that restaurant patrons have to walk through the casino to get to the restaurants. He faulted the casino for its lack of coordination in upgrading the nearby Shaw Center for conventions.
Representatives from Mass Gaming & Entertainment, the Brockton developer, were not allowed to address Crosby’s comments on Wednesday but were given the opportunity to respond in writing, with their comments being read on Thursday when hearings on whether to issue a casino license in southeastern Massachusetts resume.
The Gaming Commission faces a tough decision with the casino license for southeastern Massachusetts. The Brockton proposal is the only one before the commission, but a second casino run by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is in the works for Taunton. The original plan for the region was to have just one casino, but it’s unclear how best to achieve that goal. The Gaming Commission has control over what Mass Gaming & Entertainment does in Brockton, but no control over what the Wampanoag do on tribal land.
There’s also no guarantee the tribal casino will ever be built. The tribe’s land-in-trust designation from the federal government is being challenged by a group of Taunton residents with financial backing from Mass Gaming & Entertainment.
“The challenge to the land-in-trust decision, at a minimum, raises some very, very, very weighty issues,” said Commissioner Lloyd Macdonald, who is a lawyer. “Isn’t that something that should be taken into account?”
State tax revenues are another big question mark. Under an agreement with the state, the tribe pays a 17 percent tax on gaming revenue if it is the only casino operating in southeastern Massachusetts. But if the state approves a commercial casino there (taxed at 25 percent), the tribe wouldn’t be required to pay any tax.
On Tuesday, a consulting firm hired by the commission projected that if the Wampanoag casino operated without competition, the total projected tax take for the state would be $433 million on $1.7 billion in gambling revenue.
But if a commercial license for Brockton is awarded, state tax collections would decline by $28 million to $42 million, or 6.5 to 9.6 percent, even as total gambling revenue increased, according to the consultant group HTL Advisory Inc.
Those tax revenue estimates are based on plans for the Taunton casino to have three hotels with 900 rooms, restaurants, retail shops, and a water park in addition to the 3,000 slots, 150 table games, and 40 poker tables.
Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said the Mashpee Wampanoag have given little concrete information on their construction plan for the tribe’s First Light casino. He said the tribe could very well pause or even stop after building phase 1, which doesn’t include any hotel rooms or other amenities. And if the tribal casino is derailed in court, the state could be left with no casino in southeastern Massachusetts.
The commission is also grappling with economic development issues. The Brockton proposal would bring 1,477 full-time-equivalent jobs to a depressed Gateway City, along with promises to spend $15.4 million annually on local goods and services. The project would also provide $10 million a year to the Brockton city government.
The tribal casino in Taunton will also provide an economic shot in the arm to the area, but the Gaming Commission will have almost no control or oversight over how that is done or whether commitments are complied with.
Mass Gaming has asked the Gaming Commission for permission to withhold a required $85 million payment if it is awarded a commercial casino license. In a letter to the commission, Mass Gaming officials said the tribe’s threat to sue the agency if the state awards Brockton a license could result in the company losing its $85 million investment.
“Although we agree with the commission that it has the authority to issue the Region C license, in the unlikely event that a court overturns that authority, MG&E does not want to risk losing its $85 million payment and not have a valid license to proceed with its project,” John Donnelly, an attorney for Mass Gaming, wrote to the commission. “After all, MG&E would have paid $85 million for the license for the specific purpose of building and operating its proposed casino resort in Brockton.”