“We have been consistently asked by town officials to bring specific, not abstract, proposals forward so that the town can exercise its traditional process for vetting them,’’ Dan Krantz, director of site development for The Kraft Group, said in a statement yesterday. “That is precisely what we are trying to do with this opportunity. It has the potential to generate a minimum of $10 million annually in direct tax revenue for Foxborough to use to improve schools and services, lower property taxes, or in any other way the town sees fit.’’
The figure does not include potential mitigation payments or infrastructure improvements the town could ask Wynn to provide on top of the annual local tax payments, if the town decides to negotiate an agreement to host the project.
A casino resort and hotel complex would generate considerable local property, meal and room taxes, but “it would take the examination of the real proposal to verify a number that high,’’ Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said, referring to the estimate.
Wynn, one of the most prolific developers of the Las Vegas strip, says he would spend $1 billion to build the project.
The proposal has stirred resistance in Foxborough from those who say a casino would ruin the character of the town. Those opponents, who quickly organized into a citizens group, drove much of the public debate earlier this month after Wynn’s plans became public.
Since then, Wynn and the Kraft Group have begun to ramp up their campaign to build support for the project. For the plan to move forward, it would need Foxborough’s endorsement in a townwide vote.
Last night, the town’s Advisory Committee voted to ask the Board of Selectmen to reconsider its vote on Tuesday to allow Wynn to make a pitch for the casino at a Jan. 10 public hearing. The Advisory Committee, which reviews the town budget, voted 11 to 0 to ask selectmen to let town residents vote on a casino before Wynn makes his presentation and to kill the proposal if residents vote against it, said John R Gray Jr., the committee chairman.
