Alabama gaming becomes concern for Mississippi casinos

A lobbyist for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians organized a luncheon last Friday to discuss a cooperative advertising campaign in light of increasing gaming activity in Alabama.

An email from former Mississippi State Sen. Gloria Williamson, who is now a lobbyist for the Choctaw Indians, was forwarded to Mississippi casino owners and operators, inquiring about interest in joint advertising.

The email, dated Jan. 12 and obtained last week by the Dothan Eagle, was sent to Beverly Martin, executive director of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association, with a copy going to Choctaw Chief Miko Beasley Denson.

In the email, Williamson asked that any casino operators interested in a "co-ad campaign in regard to the Class 2 gaming and other gaming in Alabama," to meet Friday, Jan. 15 at Mary Mahoney's restaurant in Biloxi.

"We feel that we must all come together to help each other combat this problem for Mississippi gaming," she wrote.

Efforts to reach Williamson and Martin were not successful, but the owner of the restaurant said the group did meet there to talk about competing with Alabama venues.

Bob Mahoney, owner of Mary Mahoney's, said the eight Biloxi casinos contribute greatly to the economy and while they pull gamblers from Alabama, he believes people will always come to Biloxi because it is a tourist town.

"If you take one customer away, any competition wouldn't be helpful, but there are other things to do in Biloxi. There's golf, fishing, museums - we have the whole enchilada."

Mahoney said he has heard a bit about the electronic bingo complex at the Country Crossing development near Dothan.

"They should legalize it and get the money off of it," he offered to state leaders. "I tell people that one casino employee is equivalent to 50 Nissan workers."

Nissan received $295 million in state incentives to locate a plant in Canton, Miss., in 2003. Madison County pays $1.67 million each year on debts related to the incentives and in 2007, the plant brought in $1.64 million in taxes.

In all of fiscal year 2009, which ended last June, tax revenues from gaming topped $312 million, or about $10.4 million per casino, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission's Web site. These funds were paid directly to the State Tax Commission.

That does not include ad valorem taxes which benefit counties, cities and local school districts in the areas where casinos operate. It also does not include indirect benefits, such as taxes paid by casino employees or the benefit to local vendors.

The City of Biloxi cites casino taxes as the largest revenue source for the city, and the vehicle by which property taxes have remained low. Casinos contributed $23 million in gaming taxes to Biloxi in 2005, according to the city's Web site.

"The casinos here are valuable corporations to our community," Mahoney said. "We have an economic utopia. And the bad that people talk about - people will abuse gambling, drugs, food .... Nothing God created is sinful. Only the abuse is sinful."

According to a survey of patrons, 15 percent of the visitors to the Mississippi Coastal Casinos are from Alabama, or 635,000 people, and another 15 percent come from Florida. Most of those visiting Biloxi area casinos are from Mississippi and Louisiana, 26 and 25 percent respectively.

Thirty casinos in the state have active licenses from the Mississippi Gaming Commission. Eight are located in Biloxi; one each in Gulfport, Lakeshore and Bay St. Louis on the coast; nine in Tunica; five in Vicksburg; three in Greenville; one in Natchez, and one in Coahoma County.

These numbers do not include Pearl River Resort, Silver Star Hotel & Casino, and the Golden Moon Hotel & Casino, all operated by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, which are not regulated by the state.

The 30 privately-held casinos in Mississippi employed 22,858 people as of Sept. 30, and another 2,981 work in the casino hotel industry. These casinos have 34,500 slot machines, 891 table games and 154 poker games.