Two Maryland casinos will keep a higher share of slot machine revenue when MGM National Harbor opens this week, in a deal state lawmakers made years ago to reduce their taxes once the added competition enters the market.
No one knows how Maryland’s gaming revenue will change once MGM opens, but lawmakers are hoping to collect more money overall for the state’s Education Trust Fund and other programs that benefit from this income.
Maryland Casino taxes may change when MGM National Harbor opens. The state gets money from casinos through gaming revenue to support different programs such as the state’s Education Trust Fund.
Maryland Live! in Anne Arundel County will increase its share of slot machine proceeds from 41 percent to 49 percent. Horseshoe Baltimore’s share will rise from 39 percent to 46 percent. They are the two Maryland casinos closest to MGM, which will get 44 percent of the slot machine revenue generated at National Harbor.
The larger share of slot machine revenues for Maryland Live! and the Horseshoe means less money from those two casinos for the trust fund, which supports pre-K through 12 public education, public school and higher-education construction, and capital improvements including community colleges. The trust fund will get 36 percent of slot machine money from Maryland Live!, instead of 43 percent. And the fund will get 39 percent of slot revenue from the Horseshoe, rather than 45 percent.
Still, the fund stands to gain overall by getting a new boost from MGM’s casino next to the nation’s capital in Prince George’s County. The fund will receive 41 percent of MGM slot machine revenue.
In another change, 5 percent of table game revenues will now go toward local grants to mitigate the impact of casinos on surrounding communities. That reduces the share that goes to education to 15 percent. Casinos will still keep 80 percent of table-game revenues.
It’s not the first time Maryland has changed the tax rate set in 2008 when voters first approved a constitutional amendment