Lawmaker wants casinos to pay more tax

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

HELENA -- Casinos should pay more to give Montana taxpayers a break, a lawmaker said Wednesday in touting a tax hike on video gambling machines.

Sen. Ken Toole, D-Helena, wants to double the state gaming tax to 30 percent on the gross revenue of casinos with more than five of the machines. The additional money would be used for a property tax break for every household in the state, including renters.

Casinos with five or fewer machines would continue to pay the current 15 percent tax under the bill.

Supporters called the measure a much-needed effort to counter rising property taxes. Opponents, however, said any gambling tax increase would put many smaller casinos out of business.

"To put it bluntly, for our business this would squeeze us out," said Bill Wheeler, part owner of the Gold Rush Casino in Butte. "I think this bill is designed specifically to do that very thing."

No tax break estimate from the bill was available Wednesday, but Toole said previous efforts to increase the tax could have generated up to $40 million a year. That would have meant about $105 for each of Montana's 378,449 households.