City’s Casino Mitigation Tab to Be an Eye Opener

The amount of money Revere will be asking from the developers of a casino at Suffolk Downs will run into the many millions of dollars over a decade period following its opening, according to John Festa, Revere’s chief of economic development.

Festa has been creating the mitigation package which is expected to be handed to Suffolk’s owners either this week or next.

Festa remained closed mouth about the amount and what exactly the city would be asking for except to say that it will total a very large amount of money and or commitment by the casino owners to the city.

Revere’s end of the mitigation package, relatively speaking, could very well top Boston’s even though Revere owns only a very small percentage of the land upon which Suffolk Downs is situated.

In essence, it is Revere’s luck that Suffolk Down’s land is within our city limits. If a casino locates there, it will arguably become the most expensive land per square foot in the city.

It is very likely that property taxes paid to the city for the Revere land at Suffolk Downs will total in the millions of dollars every year when the place is built and operating.

After all, if almost $1 billion is put into a gaming facility and resort at Suffolk Downs, the value of the Revere part of that development will swell dramatically even if it remains unused.

There remains, also, the revenue flow from the casino that will be paid into the Revere city treasury as part of the deal, jobs, and the general expansion of the local economy which should occur.

For Revere, a casino at Suffolk Downs might easily be worth $6 million -$10 million a year if all goes well with the development.

We all await the particulars of the mitigation package worked out by Festa and approved by Mayor Dan Rizzo.

When it is presented, we do not expect the casino people at Suffolk to blink an eye about approving it.

If ever a development project was tailormade to provide for the economic survival and expansion of the city of Revere, this is it.

The mitigation package to be presented by Festa is just the start.

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