Where to stash that casino loot?

WITH THE Patrick administration pondering the issue of casino gambling during the summer legislature recess ("Casinos reconsidered," Editorial, July 26), I have seen little attention paid to a key issue that must be resolved beforehand. That issue is: Where do you target increased revenues to go?

The Globe correctly states the importance of establishing "a consistent level of support for cities and towns." But gambling revenues will, predictably, fluctuate greatly from year to year.

If revenues are targeted to fill major gaps in necessary public services, such as education and public safety, efforts to manage or control future gambling expansion will be seriously compromised, if not doomed.

As gambling revenues spike and wane, or as the costs of these necessary services spiral, the pressure to expand gambling as a quick fix will be enormous. Once you've got yourself so dependent on these added revenues, you risk creating a kind of fiscal addiction. If the Commonwealth embarks on the trail of casino gambling, increased revenues would be better targeted toward flexible investments such as the rainy day fund, which buoys state bond ratings; economic development, which would increase the tax rolls; and other nonstructural budget concerns.

WILLIAM R. KEATING
Canton

The writer, former Senate chairman of the Committee on Taxation, is the Norfolk district attorney.