TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - Detroit has serious financial trouble.
The Sunday Detroit Free Press reports the Motor City could lose even more revenue as Ohio begins opening its four new casinos.
The Free Press cites a new report from the global management firm McKinsey and Company. The report concludes Detroit's treasury stands to lose $30 million in annual casino revenue by 2015. That's because Ohio is entering the gaming picture, grabbing gamblers from Detroit's territory.
About $177 million of Detroit's $1.2 billion general fund budget in the last fiscal year came from taxes on the city's three casinos.
McKinsey reports the casinos get more than 80 percent of their revenue from gamblers coming within 150 miles of the city. That includes Northern and Central Ohio.
McKinsey says "Detroit casinos will no longer be the obvious gambling choice for daytrippers" singling out Toledo's Hollywood Casino as detrimental to Detroit's gambling revenue.
The Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland opens Monday, Toledo's on May 29th. Casinos in Columbus and Cincinnati will follow.
So what's the city of Detroit's reaction to the McKinsey report?
The Free Press quotes a spokeswoman as saying if casino and other revenues fall short, "we'll adjust."
