Phoenicians, remember how we were told that the local housing market wouldn’t bust because of the strong economy in Phoenix? Things have changed:
Could Sky Harbor soon become home to an army of one-armed bandits?
It might, if Mayor Phil Gordon has his way. Gordon wants to explore the possibility of partnering with a Native American tribe to bring slot machines to the airport.
The goal, he said, would be a profit-sharing agreement that would give the cash-strapped city a lucrative new source of revenue.
The slot-machine proposal, which is just at the idea stage, is just one of the proposals Phoenix is exploring as part of the revenue-enhancement team Phoenix formed this summer.
The group’s goal: Without raising taxes or fees, find new ways of making money for Phoenix.
The reason? Given the slow economy and plunging sales -tax revenue, Phoenix is – how to put this nicely?
"We’re broke," Gordon said.
How the mighty have fallen.
perfect…..because when you’re in a recession, GAMBLING is exactly what everyone should be doing. ya know…they could designate an area for a brothel too. speed up the revenue process.
AZSaluki-
According to the Motley Fool today:
So maybe gambling isn’t doing so well at the moment. No statistics available for the brothels.
The brothels ARE handing out gas cards though. ;p
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=71735
Igor says “disaster”.
Hey, now that’s a great idea! Put in slot machines to raise more money. Why not legalize prostitution and drugs as well. Ok, ok…I know slot machines may not be as bad as drugs, but the point I’m making is that cities are becoming so desperate for money that they are considering unconventional methods. Overall, I don’t like the idea of gambling because too many people get addicted to it. For those who have total control over gambling, I think it’s fine. Unfortunately, there isn’t a big stamp on people’s forehead on who CAN and who CAN’T handle this type of gaming. Overall, gambling is a detriment to our society. This is sad.
uuuthe-
I don’t have a good citation, but for years Valley analysts have said that one in three dollars generated in the Valley have been related to housing vs. one in four nationwide.
Housing won’t be back anytime soon, and gambling would only be a quick fix. Arizona, like the rest of the nation, needs to rethink how we make a living. Stimulus checks and slot machines don’t make for good long term solutions.
Yes Igor, I know we’re “broke”. That’s what we’re talking about.
Here’s what we really need:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/recession_plagued_nation_demands
Slot machines are a tax on stupidity. This tax tends to impact the poor. The rich stupids were already taxed when they bought a house in the past 4 years.
Why do the Indians need to be involved?
Local government needs to consider what resources the Valley has and try and figure out how to capitalize on it.
What can be done with an empty house if no one wants to live in it?
Agnostic-
I was wondering how they would work that out. I believe [And if someone knows better, please correct me.] that the Indians are the only ones who could legally manage slot machines in AZ.
I thought slots were limited to the reservations though. Sky Harbor might be problematic.
Either the gaming compacts with the tribes need to be renegotiated or an Arizona gaming commission needs to be created – it’s pretty clear to some people I have talked to that given the decline in property tax revenue, and given that the labor force here is highly unskilled, the only way out of the revenue trap is to extract more money from the visitors. Oh well, at least the state isn’t as upside-down as Cali.
Twist,
I’m sure they can find a way around it. Sell a small area in the airport to a tribe and through some legal jargon they can prolly call it reservation land. Similar to the midwest riverboats that game on “international waters.” LOL!!! when a state wishes to gamble they seem to always find a way around the illegality of it.
And I’m not sure if the state has heard, but flights are being cut everyday. If a slot rings the jackpot sound and nobody is in the airport, does it really make a sound??????
I’ve got it!!!! A city owned buffet/bingo hall at the airport. You pay a flat fee and get fed while playing bingo. Now you get to gamble and you also can kill time (since we have to arrive about a day early for flights now). You can also get through that mealless, 6 hour flight with a full belly.
I’m runnin for mayor with that idea!!!!!
The brothel idea has merit. Set up some nice clean places, and get visas for workers from third world countries. You know, doing the jobs american women don’t want to do, for lower pay…
Amazing how we started out talking about slot machines and wound up on brothels.
Agnostic-
I was thinking we needed a way to use all the empty houses that no one wants to live in, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind!
Twist,
My profession has seen the jobs mostly dissappear in PHX. The economy is down in PHX and going downer imo, due to housing and that wacky immigration bill. the economy is why I did not move out there yet.
twist,
BRILLIANT!!!!! i hadn’t even thought of that. there’d be a couple on every block at the rate our market is going.
igor says “untrue,” but i beg to differ!
@AZSALUKI
That would be kinda funny, actually. Terminal B has a different set of laws, as its Indian land!
I’ve always heard that Gambling and Alcohol do well during bad times. I guess the gambling part isn’t true – wonder how alcohol’s doing?
add prostitution at the airport. Not only could this generate fairly substantial taxes, and lower complaints about the long waits, but also would free up Homeland Security Officers from the rigirous duties of busting US Congressmen.
Instead of slots how about:
– Pay-day loan centers near ticketing
– Show the movie “Alive” at the gate of non-refundable flights. Make the flights constantly late.
– Four words “Air Conditioning is expensive!”
– Tiny vacuum-bots that instantly run out and grab fallen change
– A donation lets you avoid the new “extreme passenger screening” device
…besides, do you really want to sit next to the guy who just lost big on the slots?
Almost forgot, enforce a new loitering law near baggage claim!
Sandman-
I for one would be more than happy to pay to be in the express lane at security- and for the privilege of not having to remove my shoes and jacket, take the laptop out of the case and put liquids in a bag. All the fun has gone out of flying.
I had the solution to all this trouble immediately after 9/11, and it would have cost a ton less than all the security BS we put up with today, and its simple.
1. No carry on baggage at all.
2. everbody flies naked.
see, impossible to sneak anything destructive on at all.
and to think they kicked that hot girl off the flight to tucson, for wearing a lowcut shirt and a miniskirt!
azrob
see, impossible to sneak anything destructive on at all.
Actually, that would make some things easier to sneak on. Having been on the “heightened security” list once, I’m not going into specifics.
Arming passengers, though, has some merit.