U.S. Senate committee tables Delaware’s casino bill

The committee tabled a legislation that gives tax relief to casinos located in Delaware.

The Senate Finance Committee decided to table a legislation that aims at giving tax relief to Delaware casinos. The moves comes after State Senator Brian Bushweller agreed not to move forward after the Carney administration assured him that it was open to changing the tax structure.

Rick Geisenberger, Delaware Finance Secretary, said that Governor Carney understands the economic impact and jobs that the three casinos working in Delaware generate, but that he also wants to know how much they cost to the state before he supports any changes.

“It’s premature before we have a better sense of our March collections from corporate franchise tax and our April collections from personal income tax to be resolving this issue. But once we have that better picture, it would be more timely,” he said, and added that lowering taxes for the casinos could cost more than US$20 million.

The state has collected approximately 43 per cent of statewide slot machine revenue since 2009. Delaware also collects almost 30 per cent of all gross revenue generated by table games and another US$3 million a year in table games licensing fees. The bill would significantly cut the taxes paid by the state’s three casinos.