As one of the elected trustees for the newly incorporated city of Anthony, N.M., I ran for elected office because I want to make Anthony a better place to live and I want our new city to succeed. I have the best interests of the constituents, who are the residents who live in our city, and the entire community at heart. I strongly support the Jemez Pueblo proposal to build a casino in Anthony because it will contribute to these goals.
I am the city’s representative to the business community. Our mayor, the Anthony Chamber and Anthony Berino Economic Development Corporation president want to help small businesses get started.
The Jemez/Anthony project is designed to complement our master plan and economic development goals, which include making Anthony a tourist destination, developing a vibrant downtown historical and commercial district, and promoting the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and Butterfield trails in Anthony.
The Jemez/Anthony project gives tourists a reason to visit Anthony, and its information desk provides a reason for visitors to stay longer and spend time and money at our regional attractions and businesses. It fits perfectly with our newly passed zoning ordinance.
Our residents need jobs, and this project means 950 jobs with health care benefits. The employees will have $28 million in paychecks to spend. The project will be a big purchaser of goods and services, spending $30 million a year. This will generate gross receipts (GRT) for our city, the county and state, and added profits for our businesses.
The project will bring approximately 6,000 visitors a day to our community who are potential restaurant and other small business customers.
Bringing customers to Anthony
One of the other trustees has suggested that Anthony needs more restaurants. I agree, but restaurants need customers, and the project brings them to Anthony. The project will have two restaurants, but they will only feed a small proportion of the patrons. This is a tremendous opportunity for restaurants in our community.
The project includes a hotel built on private land that will have 80 to 100 rooms and will add to the property and GRT tax base. Other hotels will benefit because of the influx of new customers. The Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA) estimated that project patrons will spend $7 million every year on hotel rooms.
If some visitors fill up their gas tanks while visiting our city, it will put 2 cents per gallon in our city coffers. The pueblo has agreed not to build a gas station for at least 10 years, and if they ever do decide to build one, they would build it on the adjacent private land and would collect and pay the gasoline taxes.
MVEDA studied the project and concluded that each casino patron will spend an additional $15 dollars in our community, in addition to their expenditures on gaming and lodging. When patrons spend money in our community, gross receipts are collected and small businesses prosper.
MVEDA estimated that the county would collect an additional $702,000 a year in GRT. Anthony will receive 1.950 percent of any GRT generated in our boundaries.
During the five months that I have been privileged to serve as one of Anthony’s elected officials I have learned that in addition to gross receipts and gasoline taxes, we could apply for grants.
Competing nationally for federal grants is hard, and with the federal deficits soaring, grants are going to become harder to get. Grants are an unpredictable way to pay for essential services. You never know if you are going to win, or if the grant will be renewed. Many grants also require matching funds that our new city does not have.
The Jemez/Anthony project provides a $40 million endowment and foundation for parks, recreational facilities, scholarships and other community priorities – no strings attached or matching funds required. This foundation is our own pot of grant money dedicated to Anthony and the county.
Casino will mean a better and brighter future
Some have raised potential social problems as cause for concern, but Doña Ana County already has a racino. Any social problems associated with gaming are already here. Adding another casino won’t add to those existing problems.
Researchers have found that the relationship between casinos and social problems and/or crime can’t be proven. In general, communities that have casinos are just as safe, with the same social problems, as communities without casinos. I put it this way: Casinos don’t cause social problems, people cause social problems.
Anthony has high unemployment, a high dropout rate and a gang problem with or without the Jemez/Anthony project. With the casino we will have jobs, health care, continuing education and other benefits. This will lower unemployment.
With the casino we will have money from the foundation that will build parks and recreational facilities and provide scholarships, which mean a better and brighter future for our young people.
We will also have revenue for our new city.
Scott is an elected trustee in the city of Anthony, N.M.