great story

on college bound here http://nwi.com/articles/2009/01/04/news/lake_county/doc8121e8857158684886257534000e0a9d.txt

i think most people (not just the detractors) really underestimate how important this program is. and i agree with the mayors assessment that no matter what else he does while in office, this program will be the most lasting part of his future legacy for some people. it has completly changed some families lives for the better.

the detractors can say and do what they will. the knowledge of how important and helpful this program is and has been to the individual beneficiaries is all the evidence i need to be very proud to have been an early supporter of the program, regardless of what other good the program brings.

but as for the other benefits that we talked about in the programs inception. they are hard to quantify if you look at the city of hammond as if it is an island unto itself, except to say that i sincerely doubt that any of those families will be leaving the city any time soon.

but i do believe when you compare various statistical data it is apparent that hammond has outdone all of its neighboring cities and towns when it comes to taxes, property assessments, property values, budget deficits, even crime statistics, and yes educational numbers included since the program began. across the board while their (nieghbors) trends continue to decline steadilly, hammond's has either stabelized, slowed the rate of decline (in crimes case slowed the rate of increase), or actually improved slightly in all of those categories.

before passing the program i spoke to the council and told them that i believed passage of this program would be the single best thing any of them ever did for their fellow citizens in hammond. And i still believe that to be true.

The Oracle wrote:

before passing the program i spoke to the council and told them that i believed passage of this program would be the single best thing any of them ever did for their fellow citizens in hammond. And i still believe that to be true.

In addition to speaking before the council, you also attended the same workshop for the college bound program at Gavit that my wife and I did. It is very important to the city of Hammond to have residents who are willing to spend their time making their communities a better place to live.

College Bound is a wonderful program and will become more successful in the future. I wish my own children could have had the opportunity, but the program began after they graduated high school. With the escalating costs of college tuition, every little bit helps. Books are astronomical. Every student needs a cell phone, because dorms to not supply phones, you have to purchase one. There are also different meal plans to choose from, the cafeterias are something to see, your food purchases are weighed and the dollar amount is deducted from your meal card. The more elaborate plan the more money. Moving into the dorm, you can either purchase the bedding through the university, or stores as Target or Wal-Mart, because the bed is an x-long mattress. Students have to have either a computer, laptop, and every other technological gadget. Then the TV, video game equipment, food, refrigerator, laundry necessities and money to wash. My one child graduated Magna cum Laud this past May, and I have one more to go. And remember, the more money a parent makes the less financial aid your child will receive. I hope the college bound program continues to be utilized by all are Hammond residents and I wish the program a long longevity.

sparks wrote:

The Oracle wrote:

before passing the program i spoke to the council and told them that i believed passage of this program would be the single best thing any of them ever did for their fellow citizens in hammond. And i still believe that to be true.

In addition to speaking before the council, you also attended the same workshop for the college bound program at Gavit that my wife and I did. It is very important to the city of Hammond to have residents who are willing to spend their time making their communities a better place to live.

yes i did, and as i recall that's where i met you. doesnt matter now, but i spent the next 2 years trying to remember your name lol

Redstepper wrote:

College Bound is a wonderful program and will become more successful in the future. I wish my own children could have had the opportunity, but the program began after they graduated high school. With the escalating costs of college tuition, every little bit helps. Books are astronomical. Every student needs a cell phone, because dorms to not supply phones, you have to purchase one. There are also different meal plans to choose from, the cafeterias are something to see, your food purchases are weighed and the dollar amount is deducted from your meal card. The more elaborate plan the more money. Moving into the dorm, you can either purchase the bedding through the university, or stores as Target or Wal-Mart, because the bed is an x-long mattress. Students have to have either a computer, laptop, and every other technological gadget. Then the TV, video game equipment, food, refrigerator, laundry necessities and money to wash. My one child graduated Magna cum Laud this past May, and I have one more to go. And remember, the more money a parent makes the less financial aid your child will receive. I hope the college bound program continues to be utilized by all are Hammond residents and I wish the program a long longevity.

Welcome to our forum,Red. Glad to have you here.

The thing is, the city needs to find a way to get it funded away from the casino money, because what is going to happen when the casino money starts to dwindle(like right now, earnings are down), and the casino asks the city to allow a smaller payment? Thats right, things are going to get cut, and right now, to many items like College Bound are funded by casino money

mike3775 wrote:

The thing is, the city needs to find a way to get it funded away from the casino money, because what is going to happen when the casino money starts to dwindle(like right now, earnings are down), and the casino asks the city to allow a smaller payment? Thats right, things are going to get cut, and right now, to many items like College Bound are funded by casino money

The Horseshoe cannot ask the city to allow a smaller payment. The amount of taxes it pays to Hammond are the result of laws passed by the state legislature. The Horseshoe should fare far better than any other area casino because of the large investment they made in their new gambling facility and entertainment complex. The best way for a business to compete in a recession is to provide a better product than their competitors. I predict that the tax revenue Hammond receives from the Horseshoe in 2008 will be higher than 2007,not lower.
My apologies for taking this post off-topic. I don't believe that tax revenues will be an issue in the continuing success or funding of the college bound program.

sparks is correct on horseshoes revenue. it was in fact the only casino in the state to have made more money in the third quarter of last year than in 2007. its revenues were also up over previous years in october and november as well (i havent seen december numbers as of yet)

the state taxes the money and the state sends hammonds share to hammond, as well as the boarding tax shares to the county and port authority.

the state may very well demand a larger piece of the pie, but horseshoe most certainly isnt going to see its taxes cut.

but be wary of the state legislature the next few months...be very wary!

as for college bound. i dont think anyone would deny that we would rather private donors step up to fund it. but as im not aware of any local private donors showing any interest whatsoever, either before or since college bound, i dont think such an alternative is going to come along in the near future.

if such private donors were prevelant...i dont think any city in the country would turn them down. yet only two that i know of, kalamazoo with their drug companies and a city in silicon valley (fresno?) with google, have ever found such donors.

Its a good bet that the barges arent going anywhere in for a while. If they ever close that place at all. I know some are against using gaming money for such things but I do believe it gives many opportunities to others who may not go to college without it. It also gives a positive image to the city which is something we need.

Revenues may be up, but they will not stay that way. And if the economy keeps getting worse, people are going to cut back even more than they have so far

The city of Hammond has way to much funded with casino funding, and eventually it will bite them. Just ask Gary how well their programs with casino money is going right now.

You think that could never happen in Hammond?

It's not fair to compare Gary to Hammond. Gary's boat is at the bottom of the heap as far as looks or amenities and Gary has had to endure major competition from Blue Chip and Four Winds,both of which are nicer.

And don't forget, Gary reneged on the agreement to actually make their boats accessable

But the revenues could still drop at any time

Blue Chips dropped once the land based casino opened

Those revenues are not solid.

Eventually it will bite them in the behind, and then they will learn to not have all the eggs in one basket

blue chip never made that much money in the first place and m c waited far too long before they allowed the improvements of the casino property.

gary's die was cast when majestic was allowed to buy the second liscense which effectively cut their number of properties from two to one.

the thing people dont comprehend about horseshoe. is that it is bar none the best gaming property in the country this side of nevada and foxwoods. sure, the nabobs will claim that something better could be constructed in illinois (not likely) but that would fail to consider the fact that horseshoe doesnt market to or even indiana much less hammond. they market and make the vast majority of thier revenue from the south burbs. and as long as illinois has their non smoking ban in effect, their isnt anything on the horizon that will cut into horseshoes marketshare. and even if something did that still wouldnt significantly reduce the states revenues on the property.

certainly, depending on any single source of revenue is risky. but hammond doesnt actually depend on the casino any more than anyone else with a casino does, and much less than the other local indiana cities with casinos do. (much to the dismay of the team schammond folk). in fact, the revenue from the casino is what has been the difference in allowing hammond to have newer roads than its neighbors and seperated sewers, and build special projects such as shepard, new parks, the new police station, the golf course and new clubhouse etc. while highland struggles with projects like the lincoln center redux, and its town hall proposal, and gary cant get anything built anymore.

none of these projects are essential to hammonds existence. they are simply nice additions to the city. only about 10% of casino money has ever been used to supplement things like self insurance or the short term operation of the bus system and college bound.

mike. i understand what you are saying, but i fear you may have been unduely influenced by some of the comments at the other board. believe me when i tell you hammond has not done 99% of the negative crap that those idiots have claimed.

There mayn be to many things funded with casino money but if the revenue dropped those things would not effect the city in a way where it couldnt operate. We would no longer have them. I do think that some organizations should look elsewhere for the funding rather then rely on the cities casino money. The YMCA was funded heavily by the city...to what extent now I dont know.

Oracle, in 2001 the majority of property tax revenue for Porter County came from 1 source. And guess what happened when that source went belly up?

Hammond's casino may be doing good right now, but remember, as little as a 6 months ago, so were the steel mills in this area. Look what ahppened in 6 months

Hammond may not fund many major things, but funding much of anything on casino money is a gamble, because at any time it could change

Will revenue stay the same if Indiana were to go smoke free(and not allow bars and boats like California)? No it won't. People will drive by the boats and go to Michigan(like some are doing now).

What if Cook County gets a land based casino? Revenues will drop

I love how you are insinuating that I am being influenced from the other board though, I thought you were above that, but I guess I was wrong.

If you go look at the Times board, the older Times board, and the NWI forum, you will see that I have been saying this for far longer than just recently

mike. im not saying that any indivdual influenced you. what i am saying is that repeated postings of untruths by a number of people...would influence anyone that didnt factually know better for themselves.

please dont take that as a shot at you personally. it was merely an observation of what the likes of the nabobs has actually accomplished, through their repeated bashing of all things in city government.

as for your comment above. the thing i dont think you realize is that casino revenue makes up less than 25% of all the revenue in the city...and of that less than 10% of the non structuruaral ( not roads or buildings) spending in the city. (city revenue comes from property taxes, user fees, fines, state fed grants, liscenses, and casino revenue)

porter (the town) as i recall at one point had 60% of its property tax revenue coming from bethlehem. when it went under, obviously porter had a huge problem.

but hammond isnt dependant on the casino in near that proportion for its government operation. and what the city does use the casino money for...are projects that are definately nice to have (seperated sewers, new parks, a new clubhouse at the golf course, college bound, etc...and while the loss of any of those would be tragic, none of those are going to leave the city in dire fiscal straits if the casino were to suddenly dissappear. the programs and projects would simply be lost.