Report: Colorado casino generates $9 million a year for local economy

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

But it has also been followed by a doubling in the number seeking help for substance abuse on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation and a 29 percent increase in traffic on U.S. 160 near the casino, the report said.

The report, commissioned by the state, tribe and county, noted that during the past five years, the Ute Mountain Utes' gaming operation has pumped $13 million to $15 million a year into the state's economy, with the bulk of that, up to $9 million a year, infusing the Cortez area, the report said.

Those millions include money that the 2,000-member tribe has spent on salaries, construction, goods and services, as well money spent by casino visitors on lodging, recreation, gasoline, meals and other recreation outside the casino.

The Ute Mountains Casino, about 10 miles south of Cortez along U.S. 160, opened in 1992 amid some dire predictions that the crime rate would jump and gambling addictions would become commonplace.

But the accounting firm hired to document gaming's positive and negative impacts, Deloitte & Touche, reported this week that the casino apparently has not affected county crime rates, domestic violence caseloads or the numbers of those in compulsive-gambling support groups.

By 1999, the casino directly employed 387 people and tribal gaming has generated an annual average of $4.4 million to $5 million a year in personal income, including the casino's payroll, over the last five years.

As for taxes, although the tribe is not subject to direct sales or business taxes, gaming-related spending in 2000 is expected to generate tax revenues of $625,000 to $710,000 for the state of Colorado, $95,000 to $140,000 for Cortez, and roughly $1.5 million for the federal government.