The closure of a Mountlake Terrace casino is likely to have both short- and long-term financial consequences for the city.
The Silver Dollar Casino, in the 7000 block of 220th Street Southwest, abrubtly closed its doors Dec. 8.
A company employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the casino closed because it was not profitable.
Calls to both top officials with the casino and to Seattle Junior Hockey Association, which owns the building the Silver Dollar leased, were not returned.
Mountlake Terrace has a financial stake in the success of both organizations because nearly 10 percent of the city’s general fund consists of revenues from gambling taxes. Seattle Junior Hockey Association, which operates from Olympic View Arena, 22202 70th Ave. W. paid the city taxes on its bingo operation.
Documents show the Red Dragon Casino, Crazy Moose Casino and Silver Dollar, plus the junior hockey association and restaurants and pubs paid $1.6 million in gambling taxes in 2007. The Silver Dollar Casino’s share, $293,883, was the lowest of the three casinos. Seattle Junior Hockey paid $130,879 in gambling taxes in 2007, which is the year the City Council agreed to lower the tax rate on bingo and raffles in half, from 5 percent to 2.5 percent. That agreement was extended last month.
John Caulfield, Mountlake Terrace city manager, said the city expected the gambling tax revenues and budgeted for them but maintains the impact won’t be significant.
“We’ve essentially already mitigated that from an expenditure standpoint,” he said. “Even though the council adopted a budget assuming that revenue would come in, we’re not planning to spend it.”
He said the loss of gambling tax revenue will have a bigger impact on the city in the biennium that follows –2010-11. Still, he said, “core services” such as public safety, community development and public works will not be affected.
“On top of that, our finance department is evaluating other cost containment measures,” Caulfield said. City staff, he said, expect to report those measure to the council in January.
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