Chilean municipalities face hardships due to closure of casinos
Some Chilean Municipalities have had casino establishments closed for almost four months
Casinos in Chile had the order to shut down premises in March, and have remain closed up to this date. Together with no operation, due to restriction measurements, financial crisis is taking over some Chilean Municipalities.
Some Chilean Municipalities have had casino establishments closed for almost four months and have been facing difficult financial hardships as many of them had a great percentage in revenue and taxes provided from the casino’s sector. A decrease of between 25% to 30% of Municipal income was identified.
The situation was discussed during a meeting conducted by the Chilean Chamber of Deputies in a session addressed to the investigative commission on the control of gambling casinos. The authorities debated the topic and representatives of the municipalities expressed the issues faced by the local administrations.
According to the legal consultant of Viña del Mar City, Mario Araya, the municipality used to receive around $ 2,200 million from the sector before the closure of casino’s premises and have been facing a difficult financial moment without the income, since March. In Coquimbo City, the legal representative Claudio García stated that the municipality is granted with 20% of the local casino’s income, however, they stopped receiving it since March too, as reported by Yogonet Gaming News.
The president of the Chilean Association of Municipalities (AChM), Fernando Paredes, commented that the financial crisis combined with the pandemic situation has generated a decrease of 20% of the municipalities’ budget, however, the municipalities which counts on the casino sector has suffered with a decrease between 25% to 30% in the incomes.
The authorities of the Municipalities have demonstrated great concern about the situation as some cities in Chile depends on the resources generated by the casino sector, however, the national Government has not provided with the reopening dates of the premises so far.
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