Gambling Addiction Would Spread, Negative Net Revenue For County

TYSONS, VA — Andrew Pavord, a resident of Providence District, made the following statement to members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors during the public comment section of its Feb. 20 meeting.

Good evening.

As you know the General Assembly has directed the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission to study the proposal to build a casino in Tyson's Corner.

Since the argument for a Tyson's casino is based largely on claims that it will generate revenue, an objective and unbiased study should address not just revenue estimates but the full range of economic impacts including the following three issues:

The substitution effect. Studies show that most casino revenue comes at the expense of other local businesses. Casino tax revenue is a substitute for tax revenue lost from local businesses that lose customers to the casino. A recent Federal Reserve study recognizes that substitution.
effects may be so powerful that they overcome gaming revenue, leading to negative net revenue for both the state and the county. If you don't believe that just look at Marlyand's $2 billion deficit. Casinos have not solve Maryland's fiscal crisis. (1)

The impact of casinos on real estate values. There are numerous studies that prove that casinos generate crime, traffic, and other nuisances. These things reduce property values. It is logical to expect that placing a casino in Tyson's corner will reduce the values of homes in Providence District. This logic was validated in a study produced by the National Association of Realtors that found that the value of homes in the vicinity of a casino will decline. This reduction ni property values will impact Fairfax County property tax revenue. Acreditable study must estimate the decline of home values due to a casino and the resulting loss of revenue for Fairfax County? (2)

The economic cost of the social harm that casino generated gambling addiction will impose on
Fairfax County. There is an abundance of reporting and research that describes how casinos are
designed to promote gambling addiction. Iparticularly urge the Members of the board to read
John Rosengren's "How Casinos Enable Addiction," in the Atlantic Monthly. This article describes
how casino operators carefully design the casino experience to promote addiction. Casino
operators are good at what they do. They will increase the prevalence of gambling addiction in
Fairfax County. There is also a huge body of research the demonstrates that gambling addiction
leads to personal bankruptcies, depression, criminal behavior, suicide and a host of other social harms. It should come as no surprise that peer reviewed social science shows that communities with acasino have higher rates of suicide than communities without a casino.(3) An unbiased and creditable study wil include estimates of the cost to Fairfax County of dealing with these social harms.

The principal findings of an unbiased study are easy to predict. The evidence is clear. The mirage of casino revenue is not worth the harm that a casino wil inflict on Fairfax County. Of course, fi there is a referendum, the casino billionaires will spend tens of millions of dollars promoting misinformation. Citizens will have to work hard to oppose casino billionaires with the truth. We urge every member of the board to join us ni this effort. Say as loudly as you can, as clearly as you can. No casino in Fairfax.

1. Scavette, Adam. (July 2022) "Casinos and Regional Economies: Has the Game Changed?" Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Brief, No. 22-28. See also Douglas M. Walker and John D. Jackson, "The Effect of Legalized Gambling on State Government Revenue," Contemporary Economic Policy, January 2011.
2. See Fairfax County, General Fund Revenue Overview, YF 2021.
3. Francis Markham, Ariana N. Gobaud, Christina A. Mehranbod, Christopher N. Morrison, Casino accessibility and suicide: Acounty-level study of 50 US states, 2000 to 2016, Addiction, 5 February 2023.