...but the vast majority of citizens in this state do not WANT an income tax.
That is why expanded gambling always shows as the preferred form of revenue
between sales or income taxes. And who says people CAN afford an income tax?
Will my $10K property tax bill shrink by the amount of income tax I will begin
paying? Somehow, I greatly doubt it.
As for the above reference to crime ("I don't believe there is a single study
that shows where crime...did NOT increase as a result of casinos"), I've
already shown numerous examples of communities that saw a crime reduction after
the expansion of gambling. Apparently reading skills have diminished in this
state.
Bossier City, Florida--crime dropped over 50% since adopting slot machines 15
years ago. As of 2009, the number of major crimes and overall crime decreased
in Bossier City for the sixth consecutive year. Jefferson County, West
Virginia--The crime rate in 1994 was 26.4, meaning there were 26.4 offenses per
1,000 residents. In 1997, the rate went down to 20, and continued to fall even
after the introduction of slots in 1999. In 2000 the countyโs crime rate was
16.2, falling to 12 crimes per 1,000 people by 2004. Dover, Delaware--violent
crime rate before the expansion of gambling in 1994 was 915 incidents per
100,000 residents. In 1996, the year following the introduction of slots, the
rate had fallen to 847. It would continue to fall to 650 in 2000 and 765 in
2004.
Manchester, NH just reported an increase in crime by 5%...how do we account for
it? Could it be the current economy is creating an increase in crime all
around the country? If gambling had been expanded in NH last year we'd no
doubt be hearing from the usual suspects, claiming that gambling has caused
this increase. Do you know what helps diminish crime? Low unemployment rates
(fueled by new jobs--try thousands of new jobs from expanded gambling) and an
effective police force (assisted by gambling revenues).