York County casino to generate USD 45M in annual tax revenue

Progress for Maine released an economic analysis late Thursday afternoon prepared by the Florida-based consulting firm Evans, Carroll & Associates that says voter approval of the casino in November would result in:

 $6.1 million from lodging in the 150-room hotel in the first year.

 $64.4 million in new household earnings from operation of the casino, and more than $100 million in household earnings from construction.

 The firm has come under scrutiny recently for maps it drew up for The Kushner Cos. that helped the family of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner qualify one of its buildings for a federal investment program designed to help struggling areas, The Associated Press reported.

The push for the York County casino has been fraught with controversy. An initial petition drive fell short in 2015 after the Secretary of State’s Office invalidated many of the signed petitions. The campaign was forced to collect additional signatures, and in 2016 it cleared the threshold for getting on the ballot.

The referendum in November would give exclusive rights to develop a casino to international gambling entrepreneur Shawn Scott or a company owned by him. The casino would have to be built in York County, in a community that agrees to accept it.

State Rep. Louis Luchini, R-Ellsworth, the House chairman of the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, which has oversight of casino gambling in Maine, and the committee’s co-chairman Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon, have opposed the ballot initiative. Luchini has criticized the website, saying it was “filled with empty promises.”