Connecticut casino plan that would rival MGM project OK’d

EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — The East Windsor Board of Selectman has unanimously approved a development agreement with two Connecticut tribes hoping to build a new casino to compete with the MGM Resorts International facility opening in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts.

On Monday, the state’s two federally recognized tribes say they’ve chosen the site of a former movie theater complex in East Windsor to host their proposed third casino.

The development agreement provides the town $3 million up front and $3 million annually, in addition to regular tax payments that are expected to total approximately $5.5 million each year.

Ultimately, the entire project still needs approval from the General Assembly. The tribes want legislation passed this session, saying they need to move quickly to protect jobs at their southeastern Connecticut casinos. MGM’s facility is expected to open late 2018.

They still need legislative approval to open the facility, which is aimed at blunting competition from MGM’s planned facility in nearby Massachusetts.

Some lawmakers think Connecticut should instead build a third casino in southwestern Connecticut.

MGM said in a statement Saturday that the casino plan was a “terrible deal for taxpayers in East Windsor and the State of Connecticut.”

Among its concerns were that East Windsor will receive less than the $25 million annually the Mohegans offered to Revere, Massachusetts, to build a casino there and that a referendum vote will not be held to allow the public to weigh in on the issue.

“The only way Connecticut opens its first commercial casino in a way that benefits the entire state is by scrapping this charade and creating a fair, open, transparent, and competitive process,” MGM said.