Casinos in Ohio will hurt Detroit’s budget, consultant reports

Associated Press

DETROIT

A consulting company says Detroit’s hard-pressed treasury can expect to take another hit as neighboring Ohio opens four casinos in competition with the three that operate in Detroit.

The global management company McKinsey & Co. says Detroit’s treasury stands to lose up to $30 million in annual casino tax revenue by 2015 as some gamblers switch to Ohio’s casinos.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Detroit got about $177 million of its $1.2 billion general-fund budget in the last fiscal year from casinos.

The Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland opens today, and the Hollywood Casino in Toledo opens May 29.

Casinos in Columbus and Cincinnati are to follow.

The McKinley report says the Detroit casinos get 80 percent of their revenue from people living within 150 miles.

Today’s opening of Horseshoe Casino Cleveland will test the promise of new jobs, a tax windfall and urban revival in the heart of the Rust Belt.