Local sites may hit jackpot after treasurer’s slots proposal

REVERE – With the state scrambling for revenue and a top legislative slot machine proponent holding a seat of power, state Treasurer Timothy Cahill’s plan to site slots in Massachusetts may be the best-timed proposal of its sort in half a decade.Cahill, a past critic of generating revenue from casinos and slots, suggested installing up to 9,000 slot machines at three locations, including Suffolk Downs where owners signed a preliminary agreement last summer with Wonderland Greyhound Park aimed at positioning the tracks to take advantage of future gambling opportunities.Under Cahill’s plan, entrepreneurs would bid on the sites with long-term licenses generating reportedly $2 billion to $3.3 billion in initial fees. Cahill may also propose a 27-percent tax on slot revenues estimated to generate up to $244 million in revenues.”We need revenue. We are deeply in the hole. We have drained our rainy day fund down to less than $1 billion, and it doesn’t look like it will get any better,” said Cahill. “We can either cut spending or raise revenue. This gives us a third option that could lessen any action in the other two areas.” Cahill outlined his idea before testifying about the state’s financial condition at a legislative hearing.Casinos and any notion of bringing slots to Massachusetts were defeated last year by then-House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi. His successor, Robert DeLeo, has been advocating slots at the tracks since 2003 along with Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, who represents Revere in the Legislature with DeLeo.Cahill’s plan builds off elements of Gov. Deval Patrick’s 2008 casino plan: the state would similarly auction licenses for three sites across Massachusetts, built relatively cheaply and quickly, in some cases at existing gambling sites.While Cahill advocated an open bidding process, he suggested the Boston-area license could end up with the owners of Suffolk Downs horse racing track, while one slotted for southeastern Massachusetts could end up at the Taunton-Raynham greyhound track or the Plainridge trotter track.A third would be dedicated to a site in western Massachusetts.The revenue would offset sagging sales at the Massachusetts Lottery, which Cahill oversees, and tax collections that have left the state facing a $1.1 billion deficit this year and $3.5 billion in cuts for the budget being debated for next year.”I’m trying to take what are the best ideas of previous plans and take today’s financial environment into account, and get the best outcome for citizens in terms of revenue,” said Cahill.Reinstein last December said slots would raise roughly $1.1 billion in gross revenues. She cited a study by Cahill’s office to support her estimate.Using those numbers, and subtracting funding used for gambling addiction treatment and other mitigation measures, the slots would generate roughly $489 million to be distributed to cities and towns according to Lottery aid formula, she said.Wonderland is under a deadline to transform from a racetrack to a casino or development site after voters in November approved a ban on greyhound racing, effective Jan. 1, 2010.The treasurer, who has not ruled out challenging Patrick for re-election next year, dismissed any political motivation behind his proposal.