How Do Casinos Benefit the Community?

For all of us, casinos are almost always associated with the cities of Reno and Las Vegas in the state of Nevada, and in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Recent years have seen other states legalize casino gambling so that there is a reasonable number of casino sites these days where locals are able to have a go at a card game or a few slot machines.

But do casinos really bring real gains to the city it is located in? For the many states that have legalized commercial casino gambling, the answer is yes. Casinos benefit the community through:

• Providing tax revenues
• Creating employment
• Boosting local economic development

Yes, there are many reports and arguments from both sides about the pros and cons that a casino presents to any given location, but for the purpose of this article, let's examine closely what benefits casinos present to their hometown.

Casinos Provide Tax Revenue

Arguably the most obvious benefit a casino presents is that it generates tax revenue for its hometown.

Legalized casino gaming has the potential to bring huge amounts of money into a huge number of communities. In California, for example, Commerce, Bell Gardens, Colma, Hawaiian Gardens, Gardena, and San Pablo are dependent on locally owned card rooms for much of their revenue.

Tax revenues allow local politicians to fund essential community services or neighborhood-based infrastructure projects, or at least avoid spending cuts or tax increases elsewhere.

Casinos Create Jobs

Just like for any big business venture, casinos do offer employment to the community, making much-needed jobs for the local residents.

Studies have shown that casinos have generated the greatest economic stimulation where the local economy is struggling, lowering unemployment rates, and increasing average incomes in the more localized community around the casino.

According to a study released by the American Gaming Association, local communities that have casinos see higher employment not just in the casinos themselves, but also in other local businesses such as retail outlets, restaurants, tourist attractions, and hotels.

After adjusting for a variety of different variables, the results were that casino counties have higher employment (approximately 8%) than non-casino counties; salaries were slightly higher in casino counties.

Casinos Drive Economic Growth

Casinos in a town may initiate economic growth simply because they initiate new economic activity in a specific neighborhood.

By having more jobs created for the locals, we also have a ripple effect throughout the community, with the value of property appreciated, having more local businesses prosper, and more spending on the part of the locals.

Conclusion

Having a casino in your neighborhood does have its own pros and cons, which prompts local governments to study the advantages enjoyed by the community via casinos.

No doubt, there may be adverse impacts towards the community too, but in most cases, the benefits would exceed the costs of having a local casino.

Clearly, many local governments have considered the positives that a casino can bring in terms of entertaining, employing, and economic benefit. Much planning and preparation does come with it, though, in order to make sure the presence of said casino brings about more good than bad to the area.