Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Kevin Kennedy announced today that the City of Springfield will seek proposals for services related to guiding the City through any proposed casino development. The Request for Proposal (RFP) will be released on Monday, May 14, 2012, at 9:00 a.m., and will be available through the City’s Office of Procurement (36 Court Street, Room 307) or online at www.comm-pass.com.
Proposals are sought from qualified firms with substantial experience in representing municipalities and developers with regard to negotiations over gaming industry projects including regulations, licensing, permitting, construction and land development, impacts and impact fees. “The stakes are high for the City of Springfield as we look to work towards bringing a casino to our City,” commented Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. “We need to approach this in a professional and thoughtful manner. This is a complex process with a need for expert advice to help formulate a plan that will bring the residential and business communities the best and most viable economic development.”
“The siting and construction of a $500 million casino would be the largest single construction project in Springfield’s history,” stated Springfield’s Chief Development Officer Kevin Kennedy. “Procuring the reimbursable services of an experienced advisor is a prudent course of action to provide expert advice throughout the negotiations of a host community agreement.” “The construction of any $500 million development will not only provide thousands of construction jobs, but will also create thousands of new permanent jobs. We want to be in a position to negotiate the best agreement we can.”
According to the website for the American Gaming Association, in 2010, U.S. commercial casinos employed 340,564 people and paid wages of $13.3 billion. The industry report indicates that two new casinos, located in downtown urban areas in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, were included in the list of top earning casino markets in 2010.
City of Springfield Assessor Richard Allen indicated that the casino law requires a minimum investment of one half-billion dollars in any casino development. “An investment of this magnitude could mean twenty million dollars or more in new tax revenue for the city. We will strive to obtain the maximum tax yield permitted by law from any licensed gaming establishment.”
The legislation legalizing casinos requires any developer to negotiate a host community agreement setting forth the conditions to have a gaming establishment located within the host community. The requirements of the agreement include a “community impact fee” for the host community and “all stipulations of responsibilities between the host community and the applicant.” These stipulations include “known impacts from the development and operation of a gaming establishment”.
After the signing of an agreement between the host community and the applicant, the applicant must have received a binding vote on a ballot question at an election in the host community in favor of such license by a majority vote. The ballot question must be accompanied by a concise summary, as determined by the city solicitor of the signed agreement between the host community and the applicant.
The City of Springfield’s Office of Procurement must receive any proposals by 2:00 p.m., on Tuesday June 12, 2012.