Casino Connection Nevada

Florida eyes tax reduction

by Staff

A Democratic lawmaker says cutting the tax rate on slot machines in South Florida will increase gambling and result in higher revenues for the region’s schools. A Republican called the proposed amendment “completely not believable.”

Facing off in the case were Senate Democratic leader Steve Geller and Republican Senator Ronda Storms. The Senate Finance and Tax Committee passed Geller’s plan to reduce the tax rate from 50 percent to 35 percent on Las Vegas-style machines; even so, Geller afterward stormed out of the meeting room, saying the proposal wasn’t drafted properly.

Geller says the proposal will encourage four parimutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to offer slot machines sooner, thus boosting gambling and tax collections for schools to nearly $290 million annually in the next four years.

Storms objected because the amendment was written in language so dense, even a tax expert could not follow it.

Under the plan, the region’s seven parimutuels would guarantee the state about $41 million a year.