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Massachusetts slot estimates disputed

MASSACHUSETTS – As reported by the North Adams Transcript: "Polls say residents are ready for a casino resort in Massachusetts, but a prominent anti-gambling legislator said slot machine revenue won't help fill the anticipated $1 billion budget gap.

"'The studies show we are losing $1 billion to Connecticut and Rhode Island casinos, and our budget is $1 billion short, so people say do the math,' said state Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, 'and I did the math.'

"Bosley, who's also the chairman of the Committee of Workforce Development, believes the statistics released by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Center for Policy Analysis are not enough to base public policy on.

"…The $1 billion in profits, projected by the poll, was a generous estimation, according to Bosley.

"If the state built a casino with slot machines and residents spent a hypothetical $1 billion in a year, the state would only receive $50 million, according to Bosley's calculations.

"He said this estimate was based on slot machines that pay out 90 percent of the time,

"…But Clyde Barrow, director at the Center for Policy Analysis, defends the numbers presented in the university-funded New England Gaming Research Project reports.

"…Bosley is using extremely inflated costs to predict low revenues from slot machines, Barrow said…"

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