Once decision
on casinos is made, there’s no turning back!
Just weeks away from the legislative session, very big questions
need to be answered about bringing gambling casinos to South Florida. The possibilities for remaking a sparkling downtown Miami, where the Genting Group has already planted its flag,
are exciting, but so far there is little in the way of a concrete public plan except a visionary architectural design.
Traffic is already a mess — we see it every day —
and a resort will only make it worse. Who’s going to pay for the improvements and the infrastructure? What plans are
in the works already, if any, for better mass transit? Will public dollars be involved?
The city of Miami will be responsible for added fire and
police protection. Who’s going to pay for that? And the project will sit in the CRA (Community Redevelopment Area),
which normally would get all the additional property tax revenue. What about the rest of the city and the county? Will they
be cut out of any deal even though the societal costs of gambling can be steep?
And what about the revenues going to the state? Those
of us in South Florida get the casinos, the traffic, and all the unsavory byproducts of gambling while Tallahassee gets all
the money? No dice. The first step in rendering
a sensible decision is to settle all these issues in a way that provides input from taxpayers and protects the public interest.
On this issue, size matters. The Genting Group is proposing
to build the world’s largest casino in downtown Miami. Thinking big is good, but this only emphasizes the need to take
it slow in reaching a decision. Starting with three casinos in South Florida, as the draft bills in the Legislature permit,
may also be a reach.
Then there are the gambling interests in Las Vegas that want
to be dealt in. One potential player has already staked out a possible site on municipal property in Miami Beach that includes
the Convention Center. Is that the best site? Where would others locate their own casinos? Doesn’t this require an over-arching
plan that encompasses Miami-Dade and Broward? How do we decide who gets what?
At the moment, legislation would allow Genting to open a
full casino on the present site of the Omni, which the Malaysia-based corporation has already bought near the future bayside
resort. Again, what’s the rush? This provision seems very premature.
Meanwhile, racinos and other gambling venues, already fixtures
in South Florida, pay a state-mandated 35-percent tax on revenue, whereas the proposed figure for casinos would be only 10
percent. These businesses would have a lot in common. Equitable treatment would call for a similar rate for all, but a measly
10-percent tax for all gambling operations is not in the public interest either.
Finally, the public should also be informed about the social
costs of gambling and the impact of “destination resorts” on existing businesses. Some studies show commercial
sites near casinos tend to lose business and wither away because all the action goes to self-contained casinos designed to
meet the customer’s every need so that there is no reason to leave the property to spend money elsewhere.
A proper regard for city and regional planning requires answers
to these and other questions before proceeding. At the moment, it appears that South Florida’s leaders are putting the
cart before the horse by opening the door to casinos and worrying about the costs to the public later.
Once the decision is made, there’s no turning back.
The public deserves answers before any cards are dealt.
Source Miami Herald.com
|
