Efforts mounting to turn Augusta into regional gambling destination

2016-10-24

Reading time 2:11 min

The gaming industry has stepped up lobbying efforts at the state Capitol and the Georgia Municipal Association is looking for more ways to ensure revenue from casinos reaches local governments, said Michael McPherson, a governmental relations associate with the organization.

"There's been many, many, many more lobbyists hired," McPherson said. "They're serious about bringing the message to the state."

The state's lobbyist database shows 67 people are now registered to lobby for gaming organizations.

Augusta Commission members and state legislators who met Thursday were receptive to the news that Augusta could be the site of a regional casino.

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I'm looking to generate money to come into the city, Commissioner Marion Williams said. You can't legislate morality - that's a decision you have to make yourself

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If Augusta doesn't become a gambling destination, players will go to one, he said.

"You're going to go across the bridge, and they're going to make the money," Williams said.

Last session's gambling bill divided the state into regions and placed Augusta and Atlanta in the same north Georgia region for two possible casinos. Sen. Harold Jones, D-Augusta, who served on a gaming study committee, said the approach will ensure no area is oversaturated. With Atlanta and Savannah as potential "destination" casino locations, Augusta is possible for a "regional" casino location, Jones said.

Delegation Chairman Rep. Wayne Howard, D-Augusta, said the group supported the change as it took its course.

"I don't think we have any trouble with our local delegation opposing anything we could do to attract that in our direction here," Howard said.

Commissioner-elect Andrew Jefferson, who takes office in January, said that with neighboring states offering some form of casino gambling, he wasn't opposed.

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Done in moderation, it would be a great source of revenue, a win-win all around

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During the joint meeting, City Administrator Janice Allen Jackson presented an overview of her 2017 budget proposal and raised the issue of Augusta's declining Local Option Sales Tax revenues, used to offset property taxes and the cause of a revenue shortfall. McPherson said it's unlikely the state will provide the data on why collections are down, but a possible cause is the massive overpayment Augusta and Richmond County schools had to reimburse.

Last year, aircraft maintenance company Standard Aero revealed it had overpaid sales taxes for years, and the state proceeded to withhold Augusta and school system disbursements to reimburse them.

McPherson also described the "ramping down" of ad valorem taxes statewide as the state takes a greater share of automobile taxes. Jackson said Augusta collections are down $200 million in three years; McPherson said the decrease among counties statewide was at the "50 percent mark" as owners replace their cars.

Mayor Hardie Davis said he also hopes to discuss privately with the delegation changing Amendment 74 and Amendment 65, decades-old local legislation that gives a five-year tax break to businesses that make capital improvements of $1 million and $100,000, respectively.

Howard said the commission should forward a resolution if members are serious about moving the date new commissioners take office.

Currently there's a seven-month gap between May elections and their January start date. Jefferson said it became "a little frustrating" when constituents come to him and he must tell them he's not in office.