Missouri casino industry will use billboards to tout economic benefits

The 10 billboards will go up in the next few weeks around the Kansas City metro area, St. Louis, St. Joseph, Caruthersville and Jefferson City.

Since the casinos began operating in Missouri in 1994, the industry has contributed more than $1 billion in taxes and admissions fees to state and local governments, said Mike Ryan, executive director of the Missouri Riverboat Gaming Association, based in St. Louis.

Ryan said the $1 billion mark was passed during the 2000 fiscal year that ended Friday. Much of the money goes to education.

"We're part of the underlying base that provides support for the state's elementary and secondary schools," Ryan said.

The signs include several messages, including "11,000 new jobs" and "Over $1 billion in school funding." Each billboard also contains the tag line, "Gaming Benefits Missouri."

One industry critic said the casino industry is overstating its case because casino taxes represent only about 6 percent of the total funding for education in Missouri.

Steve Taylor, executive director of the anti-gambling citizen group Casino Watch, said the industry is under pressure to defend itself, perhaps "because more and more people know someone who has a destructive gambling problem."

"They're going to have to continually remind people of what they perceive as the upside of gambling," Taylor added. "They certainly are not looking at some of the hidden costs, obviously - the bankruptcies and the cost of people who get in trouble with the law."

But Ryan cited Missouri Department of Revenue figures that showed casino taxes were the sixth-largest source of income in Missouri last year, not counting federal money.

Fiscal year 2000 data made public Wednesday showed casinos holding that position, behind personal and corporate state income taxes, sales taxes, gasoline taxes and the statewide sales tax for education.

Missouri collects an 18 percent tax on gross gambling revenue, and local governments get 2 percent. The state and the casino host city evenly split the $2 admission fee per patron.

Ryan said the association's billboards will remain up through at least the end of the year.

Since casino gambling started in 1994, the association said, Kansas City has received $65 million from riverboat casinos. Other casino cities and their totals:

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