Missouri considers higher casino fees and new taxes to offset potential income tax cuts

A Missouri House committee is considering a bill that would raise casino admission fees, add new wagering charges, and increase taxes on gambling and sports betting receipts as lawmakers look at how to replace revenue if the state moves away from income tax.

House Bill 3533, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Knight, R-Lebanon, would apply to Missouri’s 13 casinos and sports betting platforms. It seeks to update casino taxes and fees that have remained unchanged since casinos began operating in the state in 1994.

The bill would increase the casino admission fee from $2 to $5.50, require it to be charged every two hours, and adjust it annually for inflation. Casinos currently pay the admission fee on behalf of customers. Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Whitewater, said a consumer price index adjustment alone would put the original $2 fee at $4.31 today.

“(The casinos) are still getting extra money out of it, but we as a state haven’t seen as much, so would they be opposed to matching CPI?” Hovis asked. “We’re looking to get rid of the income tax and shift to a fee-based structure. How do we make up (for) those differences when they start looking at making sure that we’re keeping up our fees?”

The proposal would also impose a 13% additional tax on gambling receipts and a 24% additional tax on sports wagering receipts. It would also create a 1.5% “remote wagering access fee,” with the first $35 million collected going to the Department of Natural Resources Historic Preservation Revolving Fund.

Another $15 million in net proceeds from the gaming commission fund would be directed to the same fund. Rep. Tim Taylor, R-Bunceton, backed the bill, saying casino and lottery revenue had not been sufficient.

“Revenue from lottery and from casinos has all been down, I think maybe currently it’s up slightly, but it’s been woefully inadequate,” Taylor, R-Bunceton, said in support of the bill. “This is the original fee from way back when, so we haven’t addressed it in a long time.”

The casino industry opposed the measure. Mike Winter, a lobbyist with the Missouri Gaming Association, said it would cost his clients more than half a billion dollars, at a time when casinos are already losing revenue to slot machines in convenience stores and gas stations. He also said the two-hour admission fee model would affect both revenue and operations. 

“We came into Missouri when we built our facilities looking for a stable gambling market, and I think that’s what we’ve got,” Winter said. “But when you have bills like this … there may be more favorable markets out there than what this bill would allow Missouri to be.”

Winter warned that proposals of this nature could make Missouri less attractive to casino operators compared with other markets. He also questioned whether sports wagering tax increases could be enacted through legislation alone because sports betting was authorized by constitutional amendment.

Committee chair Rep. Jeff Myers, R-Warrenton, said that the issue would be handled separately. Chance Hepola, director of government affairs for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also testified against the bill.

“From our perspective, we just want to be careful about raising some of those fees and taxes on specific industries,” Hepola said.