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Harrahs' Execs Added to Employee Count

LOUISIANA – As reported by the (Louisiana) Times-Picayune: "The Louisiana Gaming Control Board unanimously approved Monday a request by Harrah's New Orleans Casino to change the way gambling regulators count employees at the casino, which will make it harder to track the jobs at the casino that were the rationale for its 2001 tax cut.

"State Police will count the jobs and salaries of nine top casino executives along with rank-and-file casino workers because everyone now works for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the Las Vegas company that went from investor to owner when it bought out local firm JCC Holding Co. in 2002.

"…Adding the salaries of the general manager, assistant general manager, vice president of finance, vice president of human resources, vice president of VIP casino marketing, vice president of marketing/advertising, vice president of development, vice president of service operations and director of surveillance will add just nine jobs to the biweekly tally by state gaming regulators, but will inflate the collective salaries at the casino by about $140,000 a month -- or nearly $1.7 million a year. And the change will make it nearly impossible to track the wages of ordinary casino workers, a provision of the tax-cut bill that passed the Louisiana Legislature three years ago this month.

"…State Police have been tracking employment and collective salary figures at the casino since shortly after the land-based casino won a concession from the state to cut its $100 million minimum tax payment to the state to a minimum of $50 million the first year and $60 million thereafter.

"…And by mixing in the local Harrah's executive salaries with the salaries of casino workers, it might be harder to detect changes in the numbers of regular employees and their wages…"

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