What you need to know: Constitutional Amendment No. 5 (Casinos in the Ozarks)

By Brad Ziegler

Voters have the opportunity to amend the Missouri constitution to expand the number of available casino licenses by one and the potential sites for a new to the Osage River between the Missouri river and Bagnell Dam at the Lake of the Ozarks. The effort to add a new casino location at the Lake of the Ozarks has been in the works for more than a decade and is currently being led by Bally’s, which operates a casino in Kansas City, and RSI, Inc., a local development company out of Eldon, Missouri led by Gary Prewitt.

Proponents have been pursuing legislation that would put this question to the voters for several years, but those legislative efforts have been opposed by the Osage Nation, who is also planning to develop a casino in the area. The issue finally made it to the ballot through the initiative petition process and has garnered the support of City of Lake Ozark, Missouri along the way.

Voting Yes

A vote in favor of Amendment 5 will increase the number of licenses to operate a casino in Missouri from 13 to 14 and will create two conditions for the riverboat casino to operate. First the casino would be required to operate in an artificial space filled with water that is within 500 yards of a floodplain. The space where the developers plan to locate the casino is at the Eagles Landing development along US 54 near Bagnell Dam. Second, all the tax revenue from the new casino that is received by the state would be required to be used to enhance early childhood literacy programs in public elementary schools in the state.

Passage of Amendment 5 would not guarantee that Bally’s would be awarded the additional license, but their efforts to date would put them as the front runner for any expansion in the area.

Voting No

If Amendment 5 fails, the number of casino licenses will remain at 13 and the available sites for any future Missouri casinos would not expand beyond the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The Amendment requires a simple majority for passage.

State government estimates of costs resulting from passage of Amendment 5 include one time costs of $763,000, and ongoing annual costs of $2.2 million. Initial fee revenue is estimated at $271,000, additional ongoing admission fees and other revenue of $2.1 million annually, and additional annual tax revenue of $14.3 million. Recent monthly state tax revenue from the thirteen existing casinos totaled more than $31 million for the month of September with an additional $3.2 million being paid to cities and local governments.