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Gambling In Mississippi Cities Highly Regulated

Gambling In Mississippi Cities Highly Regulated

If you are a tourist visiting Tunica in Mississippi, you would never guess that it was once a very poor city, without a four-lane highway and only one traffic light. But this was before the advent of casinos in the region. Now, beautifully-landscaped casinos are scattered all over the area. Tunica County Administrator Clifton Johnson says of Tunica: “You’ll see a lot of pleasant things.” There are new roads, schools, a mall, an airport and even an aquatic center.

All this is proof of what gambling revenue that is properly regulated and disbursed can do to a county. That is because in Tunica, and in all other cities in Mississippi that have casinos, gambling machines are regulated by a state gaming commission and gambling revenue is audited by the state revenue agency—very much unlike in the neighboring state of Alabama where electronic bingo machines that are burgeoning all over the state are not well supervised.

Deputy Director of the Mississippi Gambling Commission Eddie Williams says gambling is very well-regulated in Mississippi. It is the commission’s job to approve every casino license and all gambling equipment, and to impose penalty on casinos for any violation, and even to cancel a license, if necessary. The commission has an office in Tunica and in all other casino centers throughout the state. It has an annual budget of more the $10 million and employs more than a hundred workers.

Mississippi has 34,799 slot machines in which computer chips are installed. These chips keep a check on revenue and winnings and the figures are conveyed to the state, Williams said. He added that state law demands that over 80 percent of the money dropped in the machines should be paid back to players through jackpots, but the commission’s facts and figures record pay outs to be more than that.

Spokeswoman of the Mississippi State Tax Commission Kathy Waterbury said the commission collects taxes from casinos, double-checking revenues submitted alongside gaming commission reports and other records. Casinos are also subject to audits. “We audit them regularly … just as we would a grocery store,” Waterbury said. It is the state that audits the casinos because the county does not have the resources, but the manner of the state collecting the taxes works well, said Administrator Johnson.

The 4 percent tax on gambling revenue generated $43 million for Tunica County in 2008. Since casinos were legalized in 1990, gambling revenue has generated $603 million for the county, Johnson said.

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