Wynn Everett Casino Expects to $850 Million to Massachusetts Governments in Its First 15 Years in Business
Steve Wynn’s gaming company continues to deal with the political fallout of winning the Boston-area gaming license. This week, as Wynn Resorts faces mounting political and legal challenges to its casino development in Everett, the company launched a public relations offensive to justify its role in the Boston economy.
Wynn Resorts is expected to pay roughly $850 million to the Statue of Massachusetts over the next 15 years for the right to operate a casino in Everett. In October 2014, the casino license was issued by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Wynn Resorts agreed to build a casino–variously said to cost between $1.2 billion and $1.75 billion–in the city of Everett along the Mystic River.
The casino’s site is on land which was formerly a polluted chemical site. Part of Steve Wynn’s proposal was to revitalize the Mystic River with an expensive project to restock the river with 250,000 clams, which purify the water in which they live. The breakdown of the taxes for the Wynn Everett Casino is a great deal more expensive.
Wynn Everett Casino to Pay 25% Tax
The casino is expected to pay a daily tax of 25% on its gross gaming revenues. That money should come to around $850 million over a 15-year period. Of that money, $210 million is set to go towards community mitigation, mainly with Boston. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is also expected to see “a significant amount”, according to newspaper sources.
Where the Taxes Go
Wynn Resorts also will pay $206 million on transportation enchancements, including payments to the Orange Line subsidy of the Boston subway system. The transportation costs also include a shuttle to Everett and investments in water transport.
An additional $56 million to $76 million is expected to be paid to improve the road infrastructure of Everett. Traffic issues are one of the main complaints Boston Mayor Marty Walsh uses to justify his lawsuit against Wynn Resorts and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, due to the damage to roads and waste from traffic jams the Everett casino is likely to cause. Finally, the City of Everett is expected to collect about $358 million in tax payments from the Wynn Casino itself.
Robert DeSalvio on the Economic Impact
Robert DeSalvio, the President of Wynn Everett, released a statement which discussed the impact of the payments being made. DeSalvio focused on the impact of the Orange Line, the section of the Boston subway system which runs (roughly) north-and-south through the city. Along with the Red Line, the Orange Line helps thousands-upon-thousands of people living in the suburbs get in and out of Boston every day.
DeSalvio explained in his statement: “The payments from Wynn to the MBTA will have a far-reaching effect beyond the Wynn Resort in Everett. Shoppers and diners from Assembly Row and Malden will benefit from the increased service we’re funding, as will riders going to and from downtown Boston and the Back Bay.”
How the Orange Line Affects Traffic
The statement continued, “Every stop on the Orange Line–including Chinatown, TD Garden, and Faneuil Hall–will realize reduced wait times day and night from the capacity Wynn is subsidizing. The more trains we add the more people will use public transportation for work and play, all while lowering the number of cars on the street.”
While tourists might have hoped for similar help in navigating the Green Line, which runs in labyrinthine fashion east-and-west through the city itself, the expansion of the Orange Line should help commuters more than any other single enhancement of the Boston subway system. Robert DeSalvio’s focus on the Orange Line thus is a solid answer to those who claim the Wynn Everett will cause conjestion going north out of Boston.
Wynn Everett and the Waterfront
When complete, Wynn Everett will sit on the city’s waterfront. The Everett waterfront has been blocked for many years, so Wynn Resorts is going to spend millions of dollars in cleaning up the waterfront area, before construction begins.
In April 205, it was reported that the administration of Governor Charlie Baker did not allow a permit to go through, which would have allowed the clean-up to begin. That decision came from the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Matthew Beaton, who wrote an opinion stating approval was given for the project before a complete environmental review was made. Mr. Beaton since has told Wynn Resorts it needs to update its plan in order to account for the additional noise and traffic their development will cause. The environmental review was one of several legal and political hurdles the Las Vegas gaming company has had to surmount since it won the casino license in October 2014.
