Delaware Governor Jack Markell has put together a set of proposals to help fix Delaware’s aging infrastructure that seem to make a lot of sense.
Politicians on both sides seem to agree on them. The problem is they can’t agree on how to pay for them. Markell is trying to sell the unpopular approach of borrowing and a gas tax to pay for it.
One thing that hasn’t helped his budget is the decline of gaming revenue the state draws from its 3 casinos. Last year’s revenue was about $435 million, the smallest in 13 years. Worse, it’s down nearly 20% from 2012’s total with Dover Downs barely eeking out a $13,000 profit (and that’s after being bailed out with money to modernize). In 2012 that number was $4.8 million. Ouch!