Cumulative tax haul from Massachusetts casinos and slot parlor surpasses $1 B

Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor together generated about $86 million in gross gaming revenue in February — about $54.7 million at Encore in Everett, $19.9 million at MGM Springfield and $10.9 million at the Plainridge slots parlor in Plainville.

The state is due just more than $24 million of that, pushing the total collected since Plainridge opened in 2015 to $1.018 billion.

“Just over 11 years since this law was signed, the Commonwealth has collected over $1 billion in total taxes and assessments from casinos operating in Massachusetts.

This revenue has and continues to benefit the Massachusetts economy by bolstering local aid, funding transportation and infrastructure projects, ensuring essential community mitigation initiatives are backed, and that the health and safety of the industry and those who engage with it are a top priority,” Gaming Commission Chairwoman Cathy Judd-Stein said in a statement.

“This is a marker of the success of the law and the commitment of our licensees, my fellow commissioners past and present, the MGC staff, and residents of the Commonwealth to a safe and vibrant gaming industry in Massachusetts,” Judd-Stein continued.

Encore and MGM are each taxed at a rate of 25% of gross gaming revenue, and the money collected is split into various buckets. For example, 20% of the money collected from the resort casinos goes toward local aid, 15% goes to the Transportation Infrastructure Fund, 14% goes into an education fund and 10% goes towards a debt and long-term liability reduction trust fund.

Plainridge Park pays a 49% tax on its gross gaming revenue, with 82% of what is collected earmarked for local aid and the remaining 18% allotted to the state’s Race Horse Development Fund.

By Colin A. Young