A lawyer for Mount Airy Casino Resort, which last month won a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision declaring a local slots tax unconstitutional, does not like what he has been hearing out of Harrisburg.
"What we're hearing is they're coalescing around the idea of doing a flat dollar amount," as a replacement for the current levy of 2 percent, or $10 million, whichever is greater, Michael D. Sklar, a lawyer for Mount Airy, said Monday.
Mount Airy argued that the $10 million minimum effectively saddled smaller casinos with a proportionally higher tax rate, violating a clause in the state constitution that requires that taxes be applied uniformly to the class of taxpayers. The Supreme Court agreed.
The notion of instituting a flat dollar amount of $10 million, $12 million, or even $15 million per casino will not fly, said Sklar, of Levine, Staller, Sklar, Chan, Brown & Donnelly P.A., in Atlantic City.
"We'll be right back in court. We're prepared to file the litigation again. It's going to be declared unconstitutional, we're convinced," he said.
Nothing has been settled in Harrisburg. "There are many ongoing discussions, and the work continues," said Jennifer Kocher, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Centre).