Doubts about casino benefits

Before retirement, my wife and I owned and operated a regional food distributorship. The following are observations from our business and those around us from the installation of casinos in Evansville, Ind., and Metropolis, Ill.

1. None of the local businesses had any increase in business due to increased traffic. The casinos have their own food service and lodging.

2. New businesses that opened in anticipation of increased activity, at best, split the local pie.

3. Numbers of small businesses closed. Their primary revenue was from weekend sales when low- to medium-wage earners spent discretionary dollars on entertainment.

4. Employment at the casino did not always represent new employment. Many came from surviving or closed businesses.

5. There is a negative effect on local businesses' ability to hire, pay and retain employees.

Politicians like to receive money from taxes in any form, including gambling revenue. They argue that they will have funds to spend on local improvements. However, my guess is that if one organization were not allowed a monopoly on gambling and small businesses were allowed an equal opportunity to install gaming devices, their business and the community would be much better served. With that new revenue, they too could provide higher wages and benefits.

I doubt that a casino will benefit Main Street or Broadway. There will be more empty buildings.

Casinos never talk about how much money they take out of a community, only what they bring in.

THOMAS W. SIMPSON, Cape Girardeau