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State received $24.3 million in taxes from casinos in August
WCVB 5
Colin Young, State House News Service
September 16, 2019
The state's coffers are expected to grow by about $24.3 million after the three expanded gambling facilities in the state pulled in about $86 million in revenue during the month of August, the Gaming Commission announced Monday.
Encore Boston Harbor led the way with just shy of $52.5 million in monthly gaming revenue, up about 8 percent from the roughly $48.57 million the state's newest casino generated during its first full month of operations in July, the commission reported.
Revenue from table games ($32.25 million) accounted for more than half of Encore's monthly total in August. Gamblers put more than $359 million into the 3,158 slot machines at Encore and the house kept about 5.63 percent of it last month.
The story was different at MGM Springfield, where slot machines accounted for about three times as much revenue as table games last month. The casino took in about $5.3 million from table games last month and $15.6 million from slots. MGM kept 8.58 percent of the money wagered on slots in August, more than either Encore or Plainridge Park Casino.
MGM Springfield's monthly revenue total of $20.96 million was up about $500,000 over July.
Combined, the two full-scale casinos generated about $18.36 million in tax revenue for the state last month. The two full-scale casinos in Massachusetts -- MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor -- are taxed at a rate of 25 percent of their gross gaming revenue.
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Business was up at the slots-only facility in Plainville last month, with players wagering a bit more than $1 million more at Plainridge Park Casino than in July. But revenue dropped from $12.5 million in July to $12.08 million in August while the casino's payout percentage rose from 92.08 percent to 92.43 percent.
The state is entitled to more than $4.8 million of Plainridge's August revenue in the form of taxes intended for local aid and another $1.09 million for the Race Horse Development Fund. That works out to a total tax or assessment hit of almost $5.92 million last month, according to the Gaming Commission.
Plainridge is taxed on 49 percent of its gross gaming revenue, with 82 percent of the levy going to local aid and 18 percent to a fund set up with the goal of supporting horse racing.
Massachusetts has collected a cumulative $435 million in taxes and assessments from the three gaming facilities that have opened under the 2011 expanded gaming law, the Gaming Commission said.